| Popis: |
Research shows that genetic material and environment are engaged in an ongoing conversation, one that dictates both physiology and psychology. In this paper we argue that genetic material and environment are not engaged in a single conversation but rather multiple types of conversations, and offer researchers a set of conceptual tools to better understand what nature and nurture are saying to one another. In Part I we highlight three types of activity that can be studied: behavior, changes in behavior, and learning. We define what it means to say that learning has taken place and highlight different ways in which living organisms do so. In Part II we apply this analysis to the genetic level. We argue that until now, the life and social sciences have primarily focused on two types of genetic activity (genetic behavior and changes in genetic behavior), while a third (genetic learning) is still waiting to be explored systematically. In Part III we consider how our approach better organizes past, present, and future work on genetic activity (heuristic value) and opens up a new research area centered on genetic learning (generative value). |
