Behavior Genetics: Principles and Applications is a collection of chapters by active research workers. It includes reviews of special areas within the field and discussions of interactions with other behavioral sciences such as psychology, ethology, and sociobiology. Applications to medicine, psychiatry, and education are also considered.
Although the book is not divided into sections there is some grouping of related chapters. Ehrman and Probber briefly summarize the fundamentals of genetics and evolutionary theory. Their contribution is particularly useful for readers desiring to brush up on biological basics. Claridge and Mangan, reviewing Western and Pavlovian approaches to human nervous system functioning, summarize a somewhat neglected literature on genes, neurophysiology, and personality. Simmel and Bagwell take up the present status of heritable variation in activity and exploration in animals, while introducing the more general problem of the definition and measurement of behavioral phenotypes. The chapter by Horowitz and Dudek deals primarily with experimental psychopharmacogenetics in animals, an area that has importance for the understanding of the biological base of individual differences among humans in response to psychoactive drugs.
Omenn's review of medical genetics ranges over a variety of inherited metabolic and structural deviations with effects on behavior. He emphasizes chromosomal aberrations and single locus effects. Diederen summarizes the present status of the genetics of schizophrenia, a disorder that runs in families but does not fit simple Mendelian models. Continuing on aspects of human behavior, Scarr and Carter-Saltzman take up the genetics of intelligence, one of the traditional areas of contention in the nature-nurture debate. The emphasis in Fuller's chapter on ethology is the possible role of genes in the behavioral variability of free-living species. Data from the laboratory are introduced where pertinent. A general survey of the genetics of animal social behavior by Scott reflects his long association with this field of research. Two of his former students review specific areas: caretaking and care soliciting (Gurski), and agonistic and sexual behavior (Hyde). Finally, Fuller looks at the relationship between behavior genetics and sociobiology and concludes that each would benefit from closer interaction with the other.