ABSTRACT
Nature and nurture Are individual differences in behavioural and physical traits determined by genetic variation or by differences in environmental circumstances? Historically, theorists have tended to advocate extreme positions in this debate, but it is now widely accepted that genetic and environmental influences do not operate independently but are interactive. In most cases, genetic factors provide a set of parameters in which an infant can develop, with the exact nature of this development being determined by the environment. Thus, it seems that the important question is not which influence is most important, but rather how genetic and environmental factors interact to determine human development.
