From Behavioral Genetics to Molecular Genetics

SUMMARY

The aim of this paper is to show how molecular genetics can be brought into mainstream psychological studies, using genes as directly measured variables. The first section of the paper concentrates on the basic methods and issues involved in molecular genetic work including genetic markers, linkage and association. This is followed by an overview of the more exciting results from the field to date. These are organized around the five areas of hypotheses that are outlined in the accompanying paper on behavioral genetic methodology (Petrill, this volume). The first set of hypotheses relate to multivariate issues, the second to longitudinal analyses, third are group effects, most notably sex effects, fourth are hypotheses considering the genetic relations between abnormal and normal development, and the fifth is interaction with the environment. While it is unlikely that many social scientists will join the hunt for genes associated with behaviors, that does not preclude them from using such genes in studies of social behavior and relationships (Plomin & Rutter, 1998).

Key Words:

• Molecular genetics
• methodology
• development
• gene- environment interaction