行为遗传学研究之新进展

自上世纪80年代以来,行为遗传学取得了长足的进展。在定量遗传学方面,共享环境和非共享环境概念的引入深化了人们对环境作用的认识;对于环境和遗传关系,不仅认识到基因型-环境的交互作用可能存在三种形式,还揭示出遗传对环境测量的影响——基因型-环境的相关。分子遗传学作为新兴的研究途径,目前以寻找基因为主,将来则以认识基因如何工作为重。行为遗传学的发展前景将是定量遗传学和分子遗传学以行为基因组学为中心的整合。     

学习能力与学习障碍的遗传学： 英国的近期发展和中国的研究的可能方向

中国的行为遗传学诞生在遗传学突飞猛进的时代,令人振奋。作为一个新兴学科,中国的行为遗传学研究可以避免走前人的弯路,而成为领先而不是滞后的领域。以学习能力的研究为例,计量行为遗传学可以避免“性与养”（nature vs. nurture）的争论而直接研究一些遗传学与心理学里有意义的问题,包括正常与异常、稳定与变动、同质与异质的关系等问题。尤为重要的是超越“性与养”的争论而直接研究遗传对行为的影响。本文也扼要介绍了英国“双生子早期发展”项目的计量行为遗传学和“全基因组关联”对学习能力研究的结果。可以预计,飞速发展的遗传学发现将会持续一些时日,其发展将会对中国和世界的心理学产生更大的影响     

基因与人性:影响人性的若干基因

人类行为既受到遗传因素的影响,同时也受到环境(文化)因素的影响。近年来逐渐引起众多学科领域关注的行为遗传学研究从行为的基因关联出发,系统研究了行为的遗传因素及其基因基础,取得了令人瞩目的成绩。该文系统总结了八种人类重要行为的基因基础及其与环境因素的关系,并从基因与人性的关系角度进行了讨论。     

发展性阅读困难的行为遗传学研究

发展性阅读困难是学龄儿童常见的学习障碍,其病源学问题极其复杂,很多行为遗传学家针对遗传和环境对阅读困难的影响进行了大量的研究。该文对阅读困难的行为遗传学研究进行了回顾,特别是综合介绍了分子遗传学研究所取得的重要成果及不足。最后指出了研究所面临的困难和将来的方向,并对与教育的关系进行了总结与评价。     

Music is What Feelings Sound Like: The Role of Tonal and Atonal Music in Unethical Behavior

Governments and societies often have condemned music as being “indecent” and encouraging people to act unethically. Despite these accusations, research did not previously address the link between music and unethical acts. Here we argue that music may signal what is appropriate or inappropriate, hence moral behavior. We focus on the distinction between tonal and atonal music to examine the relation of music with unethical behavior. Results from an experimental study showed that harmonic or tonal music encouraged unethical behavior in adolescents and this was mediated by negative affect. Our findings suggest that music plays an integral role in driving (im)moral behavior.     

The Logical Structure of Classical Genetics

We present a reconstruction of so-called classical, formal or Mendelian genetics using a notation which we believe is more legible than that of earlier accounts, and lends itself easily to computer implementation, for instance in PROLOG. By drawing from, and emending, earlier work of Balzer and Dawe (1986,1997), the present account presents the three most important lines of development of classical genetics: the so-called Mendel's laws, linkage genetics and gene mapping, in the form of a theory-net. This shows that the set theoretic representation format used in the structuralist approach to the philosophy of science also applies to the domain of genetic theories. There construction is intended to lend more clarity to theme thodological, philosophical and didactical discussions of the foundations of genetics, and on the other hand to defend a formally, logically minded view of theories which seems to have become contested through the work of Feyerabend, Kuhn and Kitcher. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Behavior Genetics: What's New? What's Next?

What's new in behavior genetics? With widespread acceptance that nearly all behavioral variation reflects some genetic influence, current studies are investigating developmental changes in the nature and magnitude of genetic and environmental effects, the extent to which different behaviors are influenced by common genes, and different forms of gene-environment correlation and interaction. New designs, focused on assessment of unrelated children in the same households or neighborhood environments, and use of measured environmental variables within genetically informative designs, are yielding more incisive evidence of common environmental effects on behavior. What will be next? Behavior genetic techniques and analyses will be used to inform efforts to find genes altering susceptibility for disorder and dispositional genes affecting behavioral variation. The developing integration of behavioral and molecular genetics will identify genes influencing specific behavioral variation and enhance understanding of how they do so. Psychologists will play a pivotal role in communicating that understanding to the public and in facilitating consideration of the inevitable ethical issues then to be confronted.     

Phenylketonuria in Children and Mothers: Genes, Environments, Behavior

ABSTRACT— Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn metabolic error in which metabolism of phenylalanine into tyrosine is disrupted. If the diet of an infant with PKU is not restricted, blood phenylalanine levels are elevated, leading to irremediable brain damage and severe mental retardation. Children with PKU who are placed early and continuously on a low-phenylalanine diet develop normal levels of intelligence, and brain damage is largely prevented. However, if the diet of a mother with PKU is unrestricted during her pregnancy, high phenylalanine levels in her blood can cross the placental barrier and damage the developing fetus in multiple ways. These results demonstrate how genes and environmental factors combine to create prenatal environments that can have profound effects on the growth and development of offspring during infancy and childhood.     

The Heritability of Human Behavior: Results of Aggregating Meta-Analyses

The heritability of human behavior can be estimated through studies comparing MZ and DZ twins and through adoption studies. Meta-analyses have estimated the heritability of intelligence, mental chronometric performance, language ability, anxiety disorders, major depression, antisocial behavior, problem drinking, and smoking. This article presents the aggregation and analysis of these meta-analyses, which included a total of over four hundred samples. The results of the aggregation suggest that about 41% of human behavior is genetically influenced, a percentage that may have evolutionary value. Some significant moderators were found in more than one meta-analysis, including greater heritability (a) in more disordered levels of a behavior for performance on a language-ability test, antisocial behavior, and smoking and (b) in females for antisocial behavior and smoking initiation. The moderator findings raise questions about what might explain the identified differences in level of heritability.     

Genetics and adoption: Forming a partnership

Genetic issues are demanding more attention in the area of public health. Adoption agencies and policymakers are beginning to address these issues where they relate to the adoption process and to the many families involved in adoption in this country. Genetic counselors need to play an active role as both educators of and consultants for adoption professionals and the families with whom they work. To facilitate a partnership between genetics and adoption we have developed a workshop intended to educate adoption professionals about the lifelong implications of genetic conditions on the adoption triad.     

遗传学认识的特征、争论及其社会控制

20世纪遗传学取得的重大成就并不能掩盖它与人类社会的伦理、宗教、法律之间的不和谐.如何更加正确和高效地进行遗传学的研究和技术应用已经成为各国自然科学家和社会科学家共同关心的问题.概括了遗传学认识的特征,分析了现代遗传学理论同各种传统认识之间存在的争论,并结合当今在遗传学理论研究和技术运用中出现的社会问题提出社会控制的措施.     

Evolution, Genes, and Behavior

The pseudoscience of evolutionary psychology purports to explain human behaviors by reference to an ancestral environment (essentially, a hunting-gathering way of life) in which we evolved. Contemporary human behaviors are allegedly governed directly by genes that reflect adaptation to this environment by natural selection. However, the evolutionary process is much more complex than this reductionist approach implies, and adaptation cannot involve the fine-tuning of structures or behaviors within individuals or species: natural selection can only affect entire organisms, not their components. Similarly, genetic processes are too complex to admit this simplistic view. Instead, our flexible, complex human behaviors probably represent an emergent acquisition.     

The Etiology of Behavior Problems in 7-Year-Old Twins: Substantial Genetic Influence and Negligible Shared Environmental Influence for Parent Ratings and Ratings by Same and Different Teachers

Parent ratings of behavior problems in childhood show substantial genetic influence and modest shared environmental influence. However, few studies have compared these results to teacher ratings and no previous studies have compared same-teacher ratings to different-teacher ratings. 3,714 7-year-old twin pairs in the Twins Early Development Study were rated by parents and teachers on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Substantial heritability and negligible shared environmental influence were found for data from all three raters for total behavior problems, hyperactivity, prosocial behavior, peer problems, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms. Sex-limitation models revealed similar results for males and females, although there was some evidence for greater heritability for boys, especially when twins were rated by the same teacher.     

反社会行为潜在遗传因素的全基因组关联分析

反社会行为是一种受基因和环境共同影响的复杂性行为, 但单个基因如单胺氧化酶基因(MAOA)、5-羟色胺转运体启动因子基因(5-HTT)、儿茶酚-o-甲基转移酶(COMT)基因的影响并不能全面解释其产生的分子遗传机制。来自分子遗传学研究取向的方法—— 全基因组关联分析(genome-wide association study, GWAS), 把人类基因组中数以百万计的单核苷酸(SNPs)和复制数变异(CNVs)作为遗传标记, 在全基因组层面上, 开展多中心、大样本的关联研究, 经过反复验证来发现与外在表型相关的基因位点, 为进一步了解反社会行为复杂分子遗传机制提供了重要的线索。未来的研究应该通过科学的实验设计将精确的基因分型技术与心理、环境因素相结合, 实现对复杂性行为或特质的基因-心理-环境模型的成因性分析。     

羞怯:来自行为遗传学的观点

羞怯是指社交情境中的不舒服和/或者抑制,会妨碍个体对人际目标或职业目标的追求;表现为过分地自我关注、全神贯注于个人的想法,以及某些情绪和生理的反应.近几年,从行为遗传学的角度探讨羞怯的成因成为该领域研究的前沿与热点.早期的双生子研究与分子遗传学的研究结果表明,羞怯与遗传密切相关;5-HTTLPR短型基因与羞怯的关系尤为密切;羞怯可能是多种基因以及基因与环境交互作用的结果.     

唇腭裂患儿常见的心理行为问题及对策

唇腭裂是最常见的口腔颌面部先天性发育畸形。手术修复早已在世界各个国家普遍展开,但患者在形态功能以及心理行为等各方面存在的问题不是单一的学科可以解决的。随着医学模式的转变,以及行为医学和发展心理学等学科的进展,患者在临床治疗工作中的心理和行为问题越来越受到重视。本文将对常见的心理行为问题及其相关对策进行探讨。     

自我损耗对攻击行为的影响:复愈性环境的作用

本研究采用实验(stroop任务和竞争反应时任务)和问卷(积极情感消极情感量表)相结合的方法,探讨复愈性环境对自我损耗后攻击性行为的影响。结果发现:高损耗组反应性攻击行为显著大于低损耗组,两组主动性攻击行为差异不显著;观看复愈性环境和非复愈性环境后,复愈性环境组反应性攻击行为显著低于非复愈性环境组,主动性攻击行为两组无差异。结果表明:自我损耗后会产生情绪上的不良表现,反应性攻击行为增多,而主动性攻击行为不受损耗影响;自我损耗后观看复愈性环境,能够缓解情绪上的不良表现,增加认知资源,从而减少攻击行为。     

Counterproductive Work Behavior and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) are two seemingly opposite types of active and volitional behaviors. However, previous research on the mutual relationships between these two types of behavior has yielded inconclusive results. Such relationships are of particular interest in countries such as Poland, which is still in the process of economic and social transformation from a communist to a capitalist system. Therefore, the current study sought to re-examine the relationships between OCB and CWB in a large sample of Polish employees. One thousand and fifty-one employees were recruited from small, medium, and large Polish enterprises to take part in the study, and they completed questionnaire measures of CWB and OCB. The results showed that the overall frequencies of CWB and OCB were statistically significantly correlated. However, while some dimensions of OCB were found to be significantly negatively correlated with certain categories of CWB, one dimension of OCB was significantly positively correlated with CWB. Cluster analysis allowed for distinguishing of four subgroups of participants with different profiles of CWB and OCB, including a subgroup that exhibited equal levels of OCB and CWB and a subgroup that exhibited high levels of CWB cooccurring with increased frequencies of some dimensions of OCB. These results demonstrate that, overall, CWB and OCB are relatively independent and unrelated constructs; however, their particular dimensions may show a more complex pattern of relationships.     

Linking Substance Use and Problem Behavior Across Three Generations

This study examined patterns of between-generation continuity in substance use from generation 1 (G1) parents to generation 2 (G2) adolescents and from G2 adult substance use and G1 substance use to generation 3 (G3) problem behavior in childhood. Structural equation modeling of prospective, longitudinal data from 808 participants, their parents, and their children showed low levels of G1 to G2 cross-generational continuity in the general tendency to use drugs. This effect was fully mediated by G2 early adolescent behavior problems. Drug-specific residual effects were observed across generations for cigarette smoking. Once established in adolescence, substance use in G2 showed stability over time. G2 substance use at age 27 significantly predicted G3 problem behavior. G1 substance use also was related to G3 problem behavior indirectly. These findings highlight the importance of interrupting intergenerational cycles of substance use and problem behavior.