For several decades behavioral geneticists have been somewhat on the defensive. As their methods, conclusions, and politics have been challenged, most have become more sophisticated in their techniques and more reflective about their claims. They typically deny that behavioral genetics is basically about inevitability and unchangeability; some of them have gone further and have sought to turn their methods to the study of change itself. In Development, Genetics, and Psychology, Robert Plomin presents the techniques and findings of the new "interdiscipline" of developmental behavioral genetics (hereafter DBG). He lays out the reasoning behind its procedures, mostly involving twin or adoption studies, and points out lacunae in the existing literature. For those who would gain familiarity with the field, it is a useful introduction; the book is an obvious candidate text for a newly formed course in DBG.
The empirical work takes up the bulk of the book. It should, and undoubtedly will, receive careful evaluation. What occupies me here, however, is another aspect of this volume. Though exposition is Plomin's main aim, I think he is also attempting to legitimize DBG by answering its critics and by showing its connections, even its indispensibility, to other disciplines. He thus gives us a glimpse of a field in the process of regrouping and rethinking its raison d'btre.
Plomin disavows genetic determinism.