A Conceptual and Social History of Behavioral Genetics

行为遗传学的概念和社会史

• 批准号: 0324367
• 负责人: Kenneth Schaffner
• 金额: $ 14.99万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fixed Amount Award
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-07-01 至 2006-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0324367&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Conceptual; Social; History; Behavioral; Genetics

Project AbstractSES 0324367Kenneth F. Schaffner, George Washington University"A Conceptual and Social History of Behavioral Genetics"This proposal is to research and write a general history of behavioral genetics with a focus on the period from 1960 to 2000. An introductory chapter on pre-1960s work and a postscript touching on post-2000 developments would be included. The intent is to cover both conceptual or intellectual developments as well as the social dimensions of the discipline, and the major societal factors affecting the field and the field's social implications. The PI would focus on human studies, but would include salient animal behavior advances as well. The human studies would encompass both psychological and psychiatric genetics, and would deal with classical twin, adoption, and family study methodology and results, as well as the molecular methods and results that the discipline has developed since the early 1990s. The major articles published in the field in this time period (1960-2000) will be reviewed, and interviews, with both major and minor contributors to behavioral genetics and critics of behavioral genetics, will be conducted, taped, and transcribed, and used as material for the history. Archival sources will be examined. A series of articles on major historical topics will be published, and a book providing an account of the history will be completed in draft form. Though oriented toward conceptual and internalist history by training, the PI is sensitive to and knowledgeable about the significant social dimensions of science. The PI is agnostic as to what extent and at what points he will find social or conceptual influences, or a combination of both, controlling changes or stasis in the field of behavioral genetics. For a field as publicly visible as behavioral genetics, it is puzzling that there is no written history of the field. A systematic bibliographic search yields only scattered overview articles. Conceptual and methodological of the field by the PI and others indicate that there are quite significantly different positions taken on empirical results and on fundamental concepts and methods by behavioral geneticists and commentators on the field. A history could clarify the basis of those divergent views and who, in which disciplines, has accepted what and why. A systematic history indicating why leaders in the field sided with, or strongly disagreed with, or took intermediate positions on, the controversial work of Jensen, Herrnstein, and Murray is yet to be written. The diversity of the methods employed in behavioral genetics, and how they may or may not fit together, should be able to shed light on the ongoing debate in philosophy of science about unity and diversity of methods in science Behavioral genetics generates both intense public interest as well as social concerns, based on earlier abuse of putative behavioral genetics traits in sterilization programs and in the Holocaust. The subject has undergone major scientific development since the 1960s, especially so with the continuing revolution of molecular biology in the 1990s. A critical history can provide a framework for understanding the complexities of genetic and environmental contributions to human traits. The history will be an inclusive one, recognizing the contributions of women researchers and critics of the field, and will be written for historians and philosophers of science, but also should be of significant interest to behavioral geneticists, and other scientists, physicians, and policy makers with an interest in behavioral genetics. Materials developed will be tested in the PI's and others' courses. Some articles from the project will be written that will have broad appeal and will be submitted to widely read popular journals. The PI will continue to work closely with policy-making organizations in the Washington, DC area, including professional societies and Congress and Congressional staff, to make available historical background materials for social policy utilization.

项目摘要乔治·华盛顿大学肯尼斯·F·沙夫纳：《行为遗传学的概念和社会历史》这项建议是研究和撰写一部行为遗传学的通史，重点放在1960年至2000年这段时期。将包括一个关于1960年代以前工作的导言章节和一个涉及2000年后发展的附言。其目的是涵盖概念或知识的发展以及该学科的社会层面，以及影响该领域和该领域的社会影响的主要社会因素。PI将专注于人类研究，但也将包括显著的动物行为进步。人类研究将包括心理学和精神病学遗传学，并将涉及经典的双胞胎、收养和家庭研究方法和结果，以及该学科自20世纪90年代初以来发展起来的分子方法和结果。将回顾这一时期(1960-2000年)在该领域发表的主要文章，并对行为遗传学的主要贡献者和次要贡献者以及行为遗传学的批评者进行采访，对其进行录音和转录，并用作历史材料。将对档案来源进行审查。将出版一系列关于重大历史题材的文章，并以草稿的形式完成一本介绍历史的书。尽管经过训练，PI倾向于概念性和内在论的历史，但PI对科学的重要社会维度很敏感，并对其有知识。对于他将在多大程度上和在什么程度上找到社会或概念上的影响，或者两者的组合，控制行为遗传学领域的变化或停滞，PI是不可知的。对于像行为遗传学这样一个公开可见的领域来说，令人费解的是，该领域没有书面的历史。系统的书目搜索只能产生零星的概述文章。PI和其他人对这一领域的概念和方法的研究表明，该领域的行为遗传学家和评论家对经验结果和基本概念和方法的立场有很大的不同。一段历史可以澄清这些不同观点的基础，以及谁在哪些学科中接受了什么，为什么接受。一部系统的历史记录表明，为什么该领域的领导者站在詹森、赫恩斯坦和默里有争议的工作的一边，或强烈反对，或采取中间立场，这一点尚未被写下来。行为遗传学采用的方法的多样性，以及它们如何可能或不适合在一起，应该能够揭示科学哲学中正在进行的关于科学方法的统一性和多样性的辩论。行为遗传学产生了强烈的公众兴趣和社会关切，其基础是早先在绝育计划和大屠杀中滥用假定的行为遗传学特征。自20世纪60年代以来，该学科经历了重大的科学发展，特别是随着90年代分子生物学的持续革命。一段关键的历史可以为理解遗传和环境对人类特征贡献的复杂性提供一个框架。这部历史将是一部包容性的历史，承认该领域的女性研究人员和批评家的贡献，并将为历史学家和科学哲学家撰写，但也应该引起行为遗传学家和其他对行为遗传学感兴趣的科学家、医生和政策制定者的浓厚兴趣。开发的材料将在PI和其他课程中进行测试。该项目的一些文章将具有广泛的吸引力，并将提交给广泛阅读的流行期刊。国际和平协会将继续与华盛顿特区地区的决策组织，包括专业协会以及国会和国会工作人员密切合作，为社会政策的使用提供历史背景材料。