Human behavioral genetics and education

Abstract

The present paper reviews the methodology and findings of recent human behavioral genetics in relation to education. Under “interactionism”, genetic factors in human development and education have been minimized or treated as taboo. Genetic effect is, however, mainly additive and, heritabilities of IQ and various personality traits are considered to be about 50% in adulthood. Further more, concerning IQ, genetic effects tend to increase from infancy to childhood because of genotype-environment correlation. Recent behavioral genetics are also focusing on environmental effects and the concepts of shared / nonshared environment have been introduced. These findings suggest that genetic factors, are not only related to learning and development but also play an important role in the making of one's individuality. Finally, the educational implications of human behavioral genetics are making the topic for a discussion. © 1992, The Japanese Association of Educational Psychology. All rights reserved.