R.A. Fisher, Lancelot Hogben, and the Origin(s) of Genotype-Environment Interaction

James Tabery
History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh

     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: February 13, 2005
     Presentation date: 07/14/2005 9:15 AM in MACK 237
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
The concept of genotype-environment interaction (G×E) refers to cases where different genotypes respond non-additively to the same array of environments. Empirical cases of G×E have significant implications for statistical methodologies that attempt to partition sources of phenotypic variance in a population (such as the analysis of variance), and for the assessment of group differences.

This historical essay will explicate the origin(s) of the concept of G×E in the work of British biologists R.A. Fisher and Lancelot Hogben in the 1920s and 1930s. "Origin(s)" and not "the origin" will be explicated because, it will be argued, Fisher and Hogben actually came to consider the concept of G×E by quite distinct routes, which led them, in turn, to quite distinct interpretations of the concept: Fisher introduced the biometric sense of genotype-environment interaction (G×E-B), while Hogben developed the developmental sense of genotype-environment interaction (G×E-D). With these two senses of G×E explicated, I will draw on previously unpublished correspondence to detail the debate that emerged between Fisher and Hogben concerning how significant the concept of G×E actually was for the eugenic studies of population variance and group differences.

I will also claim that this explication of the distinction and relationship between G×E-B and G×E-D can facilitate a clearer understanding of more recent debates concerning the significance of G×E for studies of population variance and group differences. For example, the exchange between Arthur Jensen and Richard Lewontin concerning the significance of G×E for estimating the heritability of intelligence in the IQ controversy can be evaluated as an instance of the debate between G×E-B and G×E-D, Jensen employing the former while Lewontin employing the latter.