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CHAPTER 2
Gene Environment Co-Action
In the study of development we are interested not only in the final staté at.
‘which the system arrives, but also in the course by which it gets there, (C.H.
‘Waddington, 1957, p. 26)
Over the years there have been attempts to utilize concepts from develop-
‘mental biology to characterize the ontogeny of human behavior. Generally
speaking, these have not been very successful for reasons which often had
litde to do with their inherent applicability: Those whose primary interests
lay in the analysis of how already-existing behaviors are modified, con-
sidered the problem of origins to be irrelevant (ef, Bijou & Baer, 1961),
‘Others, whose interests did encompass the origins of new capabilities, ex:
pressed several misgivings concerning the use of biology for explanatory
models of behavioral growth. For example, Sibylle Escalona stated:
‘The reduction of peychologica! events to physlological (and ultimately physl-