Robert Plomin Research Articles

A Blueprint for Genetic Determinism

A Blueprint for Genetic Determinism

Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin

<i>Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are</i> by Robert Plomin

The Social Science Blues.

At the dawn of the new century, Robert Plomin was gloomy. As he recounts in Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are, attempts to find the DNA responsible for the heritability of behavior failed. Month after month, journals would report new findings of specific genes for behavioral phenotypes, but they never replicated. One amazing genomic methodology after another was developed in biological genetics and applied to medicine, where it succeeded, and then to human behavior, where it failed. This was the moment of Plomin's despair. He had, with great intellectual courage, staked his reputation on the existence of actionable scientific knowledge of the DNA-based genesis of twin-based heritability. But Blueprint is hardly the product of a gloomy author. Quite the opposite: it is a declaration of victory of nature over nurture, a celebration of the vindication of Plomin as a scientist and of behavior genetics as a field of study. What happened between 2000 and 2019 to brighten Plomin's outlook so radically? Were the genes for schizophrenia and intelligence finally discovered? Are we at last on our way to understanding why, at a biological level, all differences in human behavior are substantially heritable? Alas, no. What happened is that Robert Plomin gave up on the search for individual genes that explain heritability and decided to be satisfied with much less.

Why parenting matters less than you think

Robert Plomin says how we bring up our children usually has little influence over their eventual personalities and success. Where does that leave parents, asks Clare Wilson

Book Review Article: Latest Research in Behavioral Genetics, and What It Means for Us All

Robert Plomin’s Blueprint is a concise monograph whose purpose is to inform the lay reader about the latest discoveries of behavioral genetics. It contains two parts. The first gives an up-to-date picture of the findings obtained through the traditional methods of behavioral genetics, such as adoption studies and twin studies. These include the finding that heritability increases with age for many traits, and the discovery that even measures that were previously thought to be purely environmental (e.g. divorce or television watching) are actually under the influence of genetic factors. The second part of Blueprint relates to the “DNA revolution” of the latest years, which made it possible to predict school achievement or psychological disorders on the sole basis of DNA, even for newborns. Blueprint is a very accessible, enjoyable, and sometimes mind-blowing book, which I hope will encourage many readers to debate these crucial issues.

Distinguished Scientific Contributions: Robert Plomin.

The American Psychological Association Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions are presented to persons who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. Robert Plomin is a recipient of the 2017 award "for leading the transformation of behavioral genetics from an isolated and sometimes vilified scientific outpost to a fully integrated mainstay of scientific psychology." Plomin's award citation, biography, and a selected bibliography are presented here. (PsycINFO Database Record

Banking on Twins

![Figure][1] CREDIT: JOHN LAMB/GETTY IMAGES Researchers in the United Kingdom are aiming to set up the world's largest twin registry. “We've been developing TwinBank for about a year,” says behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, who is working with

Developmental contexts in middle childhood: bridges to adolescence and adulthood

Foreword Robert C. Granger Acknowledgments 1. Middle childhood: contexts of development Aletha C. Huston and Marika N. Ripke 2. The significance of middle childhood peer competence for work and relationships in early adulthood W. Andrew Collins and Manfred van Dulmen 3. Aggression and insecurity in late adolescent romantic relationships: antecedents and developmental pathways Gregory S. Pettit, John E. Bates, Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy D. Marshall, Lori D. Harach, David J. Cleary and Kenneth A. Dodge 4. Middle childhood family-contextual and personal factors as predictors of adult outcomes L. Rowell Huesmann, Eric F. Dubow, Leonard D. Eron and Paul Boxer 5. Genetic and environmental influences on continuity and change in reading achievement in the Colorado Adoption Project Sally J. Wadsworth, Robin Corley, Robert Plomin, John K. Hewitt and John C. DeFries 6. Reciprocal effects of mothers' depression and children's problem behaviors from middle childhood to early adolescence Sara R. Jaffee and Richie Poulton 7. Middle childhood life course trajectories: links between family dysfunction and children's behavioral development Linda S. Pagani, Christa Japel, Alain Girard, Abdeljelil Farhat, Sylvana Cote and Richard E. Tremblay 8. The contribution of middle childhood contexts to adolescent achievement and behavior Katherine Magnuson, Greg J. Duncan and Ariel Kalil 9. Educational tracking within and between schools: from first grade through middle school and beyond Doris R. Entwisle, Karl L. Alexander and Linda Steffel Olson 10. School environments and the diverging pathways of students living in poverty Penny Hauser-Cram, Marji Erickson Warfield, Jennifer Stadler and Selcuk R. Sirin 11. The relations of classroom contexts in the early elementary years to children's classroom and social behavior NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 12. Out-of-school time use during middle childhood in a low-income sample: do combinations of activities affect achievement and behavior? Pamela Morris and Ariel Kalil 13. Low-income children's activity participation as a predictor of psychosocial and academic outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence Marika N. Ripke, Aletha C. Huston and David M. Casey 14. Healthy mind, healthy habits: the influence of activity involvement in middle childhood Sandra D. Simpkins, Jennifer A. Fredricks, Pamela E. Davis-Kean and Jacquelynne S. Eccles 15. Media effects in middle childhood L. Rowell Huesmann and Laramie D. Taylor 16. Continuity and discontinuity in middle childhood: implications for adult outcomes in the UK 1970 birth cohort Leon Feinstein and John Bynner 17. Mandatory welfare-to-work programs and preschool-age children: do impacts persist into middle childhood? Sharon M. McGroder, Martha J. Zaslow, Kristin A. Moore and Jennifer L. Brooks 18. Effects of welfare and employment policies on middle-childhood school performance: do they vary by race/ethnicity, and if so, why? Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Pamela Morris, Lisa Gennetian, Amanda L. Roy, Anna Gassman-Pines and Erin B. Godfrey 19. Effects of a family poverty intervention program lasting from middle childhood to adolescence Aletha C. Huston, Sylvia R. Epps, Mi Suk Shim, Greg J. Duncan, Danielle A. Crosby and Marika N. Ripke 20. Experiences in middle childhood and children's development: a summary and integration of research Aletha C. Huston and Marika N. Ripke.

Reading &amp; writing

06–273Andrews, Richard (York U, UK; rja3@york.ac.uk), Carole Torgerson, Sue Beveton, Allison Freeman, Terry Locke, Graham Lowe, Alison Robinson &amp; Die Zhu, The effect of grammar teaching on writing development. British Educational Research Journal (Routledge/Taylor &amp; Francis) 32.1 (2006), 39–55.06–274Astika, Gusti (Satya Wacana U, Salatiga, Indonesia; astika@uksw.edu), A task-based approach to reading English for specialised purposes. English in Australia (www.englishaustralia.com.au) 22.2 (2005), 14 pp.06–275Ayoola, Kehinde A. (Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Nigeria; kehinday77@yahoo.co.uk), Challenges to a new generation of Nigerian writers in English. English Today (Cambridge University Press) 22.1 (2006), 3–9.06–276Banerjee, Jayanti &amp; Dianne Wall (Lancaster U, UK; j.banerjee@lancaster.ac.uk), Assessing and reporting performances on pre-sessional EAP courses: Developing a final assessment checklist and investigating its validity. Journal of English for Academic Purposes (Elsevier) 5.1 (2006), 50–69.06–277Bitchener, John (Auckland U Technology, New Zealand; john.bitchener@aut.ac.nz) &amp; Helen Basturkmen, Perceptions of the difficulties of postgraduate L2 thesis students writing the discussion section. Journal of English for Academic Purposes (Elsevier) 5.1 (2006), 4–18.06–278Brantmeier, Cindy (Washington U, USA; cbrantme@artsci.wustl.edu), Advanced L2 learners and reading placement: Self-assessment, CBT, and subsequent performance. System (Elsevier) 34.1 (2006), 15–35.06–279Byrne, Brian (U New England, USA; bbyrne@une.edu.au), Richard K. Olson, Stefan Samuelsson, Sally Wadsworth, Robin Corley, John C. DeFries &amp; Erik Willcutt, Genetic and environmental influences on early literacy. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 33–49.06–280Castles, Anne (U Melbourne, Australia; acastles@unimelb.edu.au), Timothy Bates, Max Coltheart, Michelle Luciano &amp; Nicholas G. Martin, Cognitive modelling and the behaviour genetics of reading. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 92–103.06–281Cheng, An (Oklahoma State U, USA; an.cheng@okstate.edu), Understanding learners and learning in ESP genre-based writing instruction. English for Specific Purposes (Elsevier) 25.1 (2006), 76–89.06–282Conlon, Elizabeth G., Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, Peter A. Creed &amp; Melinda Tucker (Griffith U, Australia; e.conlon@griffith.edu.au), Family history, self-perceptions, attitudes and cognitive abilities are associated with early adolescent reading skills. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 11–32.06–283Fitze, Michael (Dubai Women's College, Dubai), Discourse and participation in ESL face-to-face and written electroncic conferences.Language Learning &amp; Technology (http://llt.msu.edu/intro.html) 10.1 (2006), 67–86.06–284Grigorenko, Elena L. (Yale U, USA &amp; Moscow State U, Russia; elena.grigorenko@yale.edu), Damaris Ngorosho, Matthew Jukes &amp; Donald Bundy, Reading in able and disabled readers from around the world: same or different? An illustration from a study of reading-related processes in a Swahili sample of siblings. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 104–123.06–285Halleck, Gene B. (Oklahoma State U, USA; halleck@okstate.edu) &amp; Ulla M. Connor, Rhetorical moves in TESOL conference proposals. Journal of English for Academic Purposes (Elsevier) 5.1 (2006), 70–86.06–286Hayiou-Thomas, Marianna E. (U York, UK; m.hayiou-thomas@psychology.york.ac.uk), Nicole Harlaar, Philip S. Dale &amp; Robert Plomin, Genetic and environmental mediation of the prediction from preschool language and nonverbal ability to 7-year reading. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 50–74.06–287Hood, Susan (U Technology, Sydney, Australia; sue.hood@uts.edu.au), The persuasive power of prosodies: Radiating values in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes (Elsevier) 5.1 (2006), 37–49.06–288Keenan, Janice M. (U Denver, USA; jkeenan@du.edu), Rebecca S. Betjemann, Sally J. Wadsworth, John C. DeFries &amp; Richard K. Olson, Genetic and environmental influences on reading and listening comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading (Blackwell) 29.1 (2006), 75–91.06–289Koutsantoni, Dimitra (U Birmingham, UK; dkoutsantoni@yahoo.com), Rhetorical strategies in engineering research articles and research theses: Advanced academic literacy and relations of power. Journal of English for Academic Purposes (Elsevier) 5.1 (2006), 19–36.06–290Kwan, Becky S. C. (Hong Kong Baptist U, Hong Kong, China; becky@hkbu.edu.hk), The schematic structure of literature reviews in doctoral theses of applied linguistics.English for Specific Purposes (Elsevier) 25.1 (2006), 30–55.06–291Lee, David &amp; John Swales (Nagoya U, Japan; david_lee00@hotmail.com), A corpus-based EAP course for NNS doctoral students: Moving from available specialized corpora to self-compiled corpora. English for Specific Purposes (Elsevier) 25.1 (2006), 56–75.06–292Okamura, A. (Takasaki City U of Economics, Japan; okamura@tcue.ac.jp), Two types of strategies used by Japanese scientists, when writing research articles in English. System (Elsevier) 34.1 (2006), 68–79.06–293Pecorari, Diane (Mälardalen U, Sweden; Diane.Pecorari@mdh.se), Visible and occluded citation features in postgraduate second-language writing. English for Specific Purposes (Elsevier) 25.1 (2006), 4–29.06–294Piller, Bonnie &amp; Mary Jo Skillings (California State U, San Bernardino, USA; bpiller@csusb.edu), English language teaching strategies used by primary teachers in one New Delhi, India, school. TESL-EJ (www.tesl-ej.org) 9.3 (2005), 23 pp.

Editorial

Molecular genetics is an area that is currently progressing rapidly. It is now clear that almost every aspect of human behavioural development is genetically influenced, and the hunt is on to find, replicate and understand the function of the relevant genes. However, although most child psychology and psychiatry professionals recognise the role of genetic influences on the traits and disorders they work with, the field is one entrenched in language and indeed statistics of its own. This makes it a particularly hard area for those not working in it to dip into. Furthermore, it may not always be obvious how the findings of molecular genetics are relevant to other areas of research and to practitioners. For this reason, we decided the time was right to bring together a series of papers using current methodologies to examine genetic influence on aspects of child psychology and psychiatry, and to attempt to show in each how these findings are relevant to the broader field. The commentary by Robert Plomin provides an authoritative overview of where the field currently stands, including a summary of the papers in the section, and describes exciting developments that should help pave the way in the future. This is followed by two introductory guides covering the language and statistics of molecular genetics. The seven empirical papers cover a wide range of phenotypes, including ADHD, reading disability, speech and language disorder, genetic cognitive ability and Prader-Willi syndrome. The methods used also range considerably, reflecting the variety of approaches available. Some are as simple as a case–control design, making it easier to see how this type of information may in future be incorporated into ongoing non-genetic studies. The four remaining papers in this issue include one on learning disabilities, one on visual attention in deaf and hearing infants, one on self-perception of psychiatric problems, and one on a Chinese version of a diagnostic interview. The study by Eisenmajer and colleagues examines the important question of overlap between specific language impairment and specific reading difficulties. The study identified three groups of children, those with just one or other of these problems, and those with both. The latter group performed more poorly in general on both academic and phonological processing tasks, raising the possibility that this should be considered as a distinct third group. The study by Harris and Chasin highlights the importance of engaging the attention of deaf children through differing means to those used in hearing children. Deaf mothers of deaf children were most adept at using a wide variety of techniques to attract their child's attention. The findings suggest that hearing mothers of deaf children may benefit from support early on to help them assist their children develop good communication skills. Sourander and colleagues examined the links between early self-, parent- and teacher-reported emotional and behavioural symptoms and subsequent recognition of psychiatric problems and psychiatric diagnoses 10 years later in a sample of Finnish males. Of those with psychiatric problems, almost three-quarters recognised that they had either mild, definite or severe problems. However, only a minority were recognised by the health services as having a psychiatric disorder. The strongest predictor of psychiatric disorder was parent- and teacher-reported perceived need for treatment at age 8 years, suggesting that early school-based screening could be useful. Despite the huge youth population in China, little is known about psychiatric morbidity in this community. One obstacle to progress in this area has been the lack of validated psychiatric instruments. The study by Ho and others sets out to address this need by examining test–retest reliability of a Chinese version of the DISC-IV, producing findings similar to those from the original English version. I hope that you will enjoy this issue and that the special section on molecular genetics will prove both informative and engaging!

Nature × nurture: Genetic vulnerabilities interact with physical maltreatment to promote conduct problems

Maltreatment places children at risk for psychiatric morbidity, especially conduct problems. However, not all maltreated children develop conduct problems. We tested whether the effect of physical maltreatment on risk for conduct problems was strongest among those who were at high genetic risk for these problems using data from the E-risk Study, a representative cohort of 1,116 5-year-old British twin pairs and their families. Children's conduct problems were ascertained via parent and teacher interviews. Physical maltreatment was ascertained via parent report. Children's genetic risk for conduct problems was estimated as a function of their co-twin's conduct disorder status and the pair's zygosity. The effect of maltreatment on risk for conduct problems was strongest among those at high genetic risk. The experience of maltreatment was associated with an increase of 2% in the probability of a conduct disorder diagnosis among children at low genetic risk for conduct disorder but an increase of 24% among children at high genetic risk. Prediction of behavioral pathology can attain greater accuracy if both pathogenic environments and genetic risk are ascertained. Certain genotypes may promote resistance to trauma. Physically maltreated children whose first-degree relatives engage in antisocial behavior warrant priority for therapeutic intervention.

Gender Equity Unmasked: Democracy, Gender, and Education in Central/Southeastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

In the early 1990s, the countries of Central and Southeastern Europe (CEE and SEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU) moved from authoritarianism to democracy, capitalism, and market economies, thus joining “democracy’s third-wave.” As in most cases of democratization, the transformation processes in the former socialist bloc have created opportunities to “rethink the bases of social consensus and revise the rules of the game,” signaling the possibility for new political culture and institutions. As such, periods of democratic transformation constitute “political openings” in the widest sense, generating extensive opportunities for sociopolitical activism and expanding the bases for political participation of previously marginalized actors. In particular, democratic transformation processes provide unique opportunities for women to address their secondary status, to insist on their inclusion in the democratization process, to engage in formal or informal politics, and to demand that their particular issues be incorporated in the political system. While acknowledging the ostensibly equal public status of women under socialist political and economic policies, this article makes a two-tiered argument regarding gender equity in the region. First, gender equity under the socialist regime was largely a myth, despite government’s public presentation of it. Second, gender equity may not necessarily be achieved through

David Reiss, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, E. Mavis Hetherington, Robert Plomin (Editors): The relationship code: deciphering genetic and social influences on adolescent development

David Reiss, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, E. Mavis Hetherington, Robert Plomin (Editors): The relationship code: deciphering genetic and social influences on adolescent development

Robert Plomin: The nature-nurture controversy.

Child and Adolescent Mental HealthVolume 8, Issue 1 p. 40-41 Robert Plomin: The nature-nurture controversy John Pearce, John PearceSearch for more papers by this author John Pearce, John PearceSearch for more papers by this author First published: 09 October 2008 https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-3588.00044Citations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume8, Issue1February 2003Pages 40-41 RelatedInformation

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature Steven Pinker Allen Lane, 2002, 0-713-99256-5 John Locke famously compared the mind to "white paper void of all characters, without any ideas". He claimed that its contents were furnished by experience. The Blank Slate is in part a history of this beguiling theory. Because of its influence, whether in the form of behaviorism, cultural anthropology or historical materialism, social science has not done justice to genetic factors. Until recently that is. For according to Pinker a model of the mind is now being developed that acknowledges the importance of heredity as well as the environment. Locke and his disciple John Stuart Mill were empiricists. They believed that human intelligence could be explained without recourse to the notion of innate organisation and they attributed all knowledge to experience. Behaviorism is a form of empiricism and it profoundly affected the social sciences of the last century, especially psychology. Indeed, according to a study carried out by Haggbloom (2002), B.F. Skinner was the most eminent psychologist of the last century. Because experience was all-important for the behaviorists, they blamed poverty and ignorance on defects in social institutions. A behaviorist could not have written The Bell Curve. Professor Arthur Jensen (1998a) recalls that when he began to study psychology at Berkeley in the 1940's the influence of genes was completely ignored. The orthodox view in American psychology was that "...individual differences in the behavioral realm originated entirely outside the organism, through its exposure to different environmental contingencies..." B.F. Skinner maintained that studying the brain was misguided. Even Hans Eysenck, the doyen of the hereditarian London School thought that overt behavior was the only legitimate domain of psychology. Eysenck regarded Freudian theory as empirically unverifiable and he championed a form of therapy based on the learning theory of Pavlov and Skinner Jensen, 2000). Robert Plomin (1997) has constructed a pleasing diagram that illustrates the historical swings of the pendulum between nature and nurture. It shows an emphatic movement towards the latter in the 1950's. Evidently the Holocaust made the concept of human nature, not to mention eugenics and racial science, anathema in that decade. Yet as Pinker observes, state sponsored mass murder also took place under Marxist regimes that had an explicitly anti-innatist ideology. It is therefore hardly logical to disapprove of behavioral genetics or evolutionary theory because of their historical association with National Socialism. Nor are twin studies immoral because Dr. Joseph Mengele undertook them. At the beginning of the 20th century the anthropologist Franz Boas elaborated what eventually became the standard social science model. Boas believed that differences between races and classes were cultural not biological. All ethnic groups were endowed with the same basic mental abilities, in his view. Although Boas regarded Western civilisation as superior, he thought that all peoples were capable of attaining it. Pearson (1993) has highlighted the pivotal position attained by Boas' disciples in American social science, in particular anthropology. "Boas created a monster", as Pinker colourfully puts it. Like E.O. Wilson, Pinker supports the unification of knowledge or consilience. The wall dividing biology from culture must come down. But arguably Pinker exaggerates the egalitarianism of those who built this wall. The autonomy of culture was the founding principle not only of cultural anthropology but also of sociology. Comte and Durkheim, two of sociology's founding fathers, regarded society as sui generis. Indeed, Durkheim feared that if the pre-social features of the individual, namely his race and heredity, were considered by sociology it would "dissolve into psychology" (Lukes, 1973). Yet both Comte and Durkheim were conservatives who sought a secular basis for social order. …

Rose succeeds where Wilson fails

Rose's accomplishment in combining ontological unity with epistemological diversity contrasts it with Wilson's failure in overemphasizing the former and not appreciating the latter. This commentary cites the two most authoritative discussions of the inapplicability of heritability to human data, corrects several historical errors or inaccuracies in genetics, and criticizes the characterizations of Jacques Loeb and Robert Plomin.

The Genetics of Alcoholism

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book Forum: SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSEFull AccessThe Genetics of AlcoholismMICHELLE KIM LEFF, M.D., MICHELLE KIM LEFFSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Ruxton, Md.Published Online:1 Jan 1999https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.1.155AboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail This book is the first volume in a new series, Alcohol and Alcoholism, which is related to the editors’ first series, The Biology of Alcoholism. This new series will consist of nine volumes, each with a specific topic. This volume, on the genetics of alcoholism, is the first of four dealing with basic theoretical and experimental issues in alcohol and alcoholism research.The volume is organized into three main sections. Part 1 includes epidemiologic studies. Victor Hesselbrock, in his chapter on the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism (chapter 1), reviews the various familial-genetic studies, including twin studies and adoption studies. Michie Hesselbrock, in chapter 2, describes the genetic determinants of alcoholic subtypes. I found the third chapter, “Familial Transmission of Psychiatric Disorders Associated With Alcoholism,” very interesting. Remi Cadoret concisely analyzes the pertinent literature to date. Other chapters in this section include Andrew Heath’s very thorough review of the genetic influences on drinking behavior in humans (chapter 4) and James Wilson and Elizabeth Laffan’s chapter on testing for genetic influences on alcohol metabolism, sensitivity, and tolerance (chapter 5).Part 2, Selective Breeding Studies, focuses on the current knowledge that the animal studies have contributed to the field. These basic science studies may not have immediate applicability to clinical work; however, it is through these studies that factors influencing alcohol consumption and alcoholism have been identified. Richard Deitrich and Rodney Baker, in chapter 6, review the genetic influences on alcohol metabolism and sensitivity to alcohol in animals. In the next chapter, David Crabb et al. describe genetic factors that reduce the risk for developing alcoholism in animals and humans. They discuss the enzymology of alcohol-metabolizing systems, with one focus on the Asian alcohol flush reaction. Ann Kosobud and John Crabbe end this section with their chapter on the genetic influences on the development of physical dependence and withdrawal in animals.The first chapter in the last section of this volume, Phenotypic Studies, is a brief summation of the biochemical phenotypic markers in genetic alcoholism, presented by Ivan Diamond and Adrienne Gordon. In chapter 10, Henri Begleiter and Bernice Porjesz review the major neurophysiological phenotypic factors. This chapter is a good introduction to the field. They describe the confounding features of alcoholism, which make it difficult to identify specific genes, and the specific criteria critical for identifying a genetically influenced marker. They then discuss the pertinent findings from selected EEG and event-related brain potential studies. In chapter 12, Ralph Tarter et al. describe the studies in behavioral genetics that look to elucidate the etiology of alcoholism. Tarter presents the results from his well-known work, along with other studies looking at temperament associated with a greater risk for alcoholism. As a child psychiatrist who works with children of substance-abusing parents, I found this chapter very compelling. Gerald McClearn and Robert Plomin, in chapter 13, discuss various research strategies for the search for genetic influences on the phenotypes described in previous chapters. They stress the need for quantitative genetic research in this field. In the final chapter, Alexander Wilson and Robert Elston explain linkage analysis and review the linkage analysis research of alcoholism.This volume is a strong start in this new series. It is a well-organized, well-written volume that can be used as an up-to-date reference. I look forward to future volumes in this series.edited by Henri Begleiter, and Benjamin Kissin. New York, Oxford University Press, 1995, 378 pp., $79.50. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 156Issue 1 January 1999Pages 155-155 Metrics History Published online 1 January 1999 Published in print 1 January 1999

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Genetics &amp; Experience: The Interplay between Nature &amp; Nurture by Robert Plomin. Injury Epidemiology by Leon S. Robertson. Racial differences in preterm delivery. Developing a new research paradigm. Editors: Diana Rowley and Heather Tosteson. EPISOURCE: A Guide to Resources in Epidemiology by RH Bernier &amp; VM Mason.

: Nature and Nurture during Infancy and Early Childhood . Robert Plomin, John C. Defries, David W. Fulker.

: Nature and Nurture during Infancy and Early Childhood . Robert Plomin, John C. Defries, David W. Fulker.

Adoption Studies Continued: Nature and Nurture during Infancy and Early Childhood . Robert Plomin, John C. DeFries, and David W. Fulker. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1988. xiv, 345 pp., illus. $44.50.

Adoption Studies Continued: <i>Nature and Nurture during Infancy and Early Childhood</i> . Robert Plomin, John C. DeFries, and David W. Fulker. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1988. xiv, 345 pp., illus. $44.50.