Two types of genetic reasoning in contemporary psychology and their relevance for education

Abstract

The paper shows how arguments based on genetics came back in the 1960s. The universalist claims started from the innatism of Chomsky, and gradually extended the idea of preconfigured cognitive systems to several areas. This resulted in the development on new methods towards studying preverbal infants, but also in proposing much leaner prewired core systems. The other revival of genetic ideas in psychology was mainly reraising to classical nature/nurture debates regarding IQ. The new epigenetic theories propose a new synthesis in the frames of developmental science: environmental enrichment fosters the unfolding of genetic based individual differences.