Environmental Influences: Biology and Behavior Series

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES THIRD OF A SERIES ON BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR COPYRIGHT@ 196 8 BY THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY PRESS AND RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 68-56103 PRINTED. IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Preface THERE IS a marked and growing concern among social scientists about the effects of environmental factors on biological mechanisms of behavior. One example is the recent work with small mammals on environmental stress and adrenal and gonadal functioning. Corre spondingly, many biological scientists call attention to the fact that a comprehensive human biology cannot omit one of man's more striking characteristics-his social nature. Although the interdepend ence of the organism and its environment has long been recognized, the systematic study of environmental effects on biological function ing and the behavioral consequences has received less attention than it deserves. On April 21-22, 1967, Russell Sage Foundation and The Rockefeller University sponsored a conference on environmental in fluences on behavior. The meetings were held in Caspary Audi torium on the Rockefeller campus in New York City. This was the last in a series of three conferences on biology and behavior. The aim of the series was to strengthen the dialogue between the biological and social sciences, and to stimulate a rapprochement between the two disciplines in order that future work in each field might be un dertaken in fuller recognition of the other. The present volume contains fifteen papers that were delivered at the two-day conference. The first volume was published in the fall of 1967 and dealt with the topic of neurophysiology and emotion. The second volume contained the proceedings of the conference on ge netics and behavior, and was published in the spring of 1968. The ultimate goal of all three books is to disseminate information that will foster understanding of behavior through research that rises above the limitations imposed by narrow specialization. The evening paper of the present conference was delivered by v Professor Rene Dubos on "Environmental Determinants of Human Life." One of the more important themes of this paper is reflected in the following excerpt: "Since the human genetic pool remains essentially the same from one generation to the next, its phenotypic expression represents the responses to the total environment and the ways of life, which are continuously changing." Professor Dubos develops this idea by giving detailed consideration in his paper to the consequences for human biology of some of the environmental forces that are most characteristic of the modern world, including the urban environment with its multitude of stresses and uniquely de manding phenotypic adaptations. He concludes that: "While there is no doubt that man can function and reproduce in a completely artificial environment, it is probable that alienation from nature will eventually rob him of some of his important biological attributes and most desirable ethical and esthetic values." In other words, man can adapt to a stressful environment, but these adaptations have in direct effects which are deleterious to biobehavioral functioning. Recent work in Professor Dubos' laboratory shows such effects in in frahuman species.1 Further support for Dubos' position comes from experimentation with human subjects in my own laboratory at the Rockefeller.2 We have been able to show that individuals pay a "psychic cost" for adaptation to aversive noise stimuli, the nature of this cost being re flected in lowered tolerance for postadaptive frustrations. We have also been able to show that, when the individual is given control over the noise, the cost of adaptation is reduced, so that frustration toler ance is not appreciably lowered following the adaptive process. Re search of this kind underscores the need for taking sociopsychological factors into account in analyzing biobehavioral adaptations to en vironmental stress. The results of such research have far-ranging im plications for city planning, urban redevelopment, and indeed the entire problem of environmental change. The topics discussed during the two days of the conference dealt with specific social- and physical-environmental effects on behavior. The complete text of each paper is included in this volume. The morning session of the first day was concerned with early nutritional Vl deficiencies and later mental performance. It was concluded that malnutrition is one of the contributing factors to poor social back ground, poor physical growth, and inadequate mental functioning. A number of empirical studies suggest that children with a history of early malnutrition are educational risks. Normal adaptive functioning requires a normal environment, adequate nutrition, and a normal genetic constitution. The afternoon session considered early social deprivation in non human primates and its implications for human behavior. The pa pers uniformly emphasized a comparative perspective, underlining the view that an understanding of human behavior and development can be aided by systematic examination of primate behavioral de velopment. Viewpoints merged toward the belief that environmental and social events during the first few weeks of life may be vital to the development of the infant. While the precise nature and duration of this critical period in human infancy is yet to be specified, it was generally believed that very early unsatisfied social and physical needs present serious and often irreversible obstacles to later development. On the second day, the morning session was devoted to discussion of the effects of social isolation on human learning and performance. Social interaction (i.e., the mere presence of others) was found to have a facilitative effect on performance, whereas social isolation has an inhibitory effect. It was concluded that this finding needs quali fication, for there is other evidence showing that humans tend to isolate themselves from further stimulation after a high degree of social interaction. Additional social contact may actually lower rather than raise performance level. It would appear that human and in frahuman animals seek an optimal level of arousal which varies from environment to environment and from species to species. The final session of the conference was addressed to research on cultural deprivation and its effects on higher mental functioning. Re cent research shows that differences in behavior and mental organ ization, such as that between middle-class and lower-middle-class children, does not emerge until after two years of age. Data suggest that every child requires a set of schemata to interpret experience; dis tinctive events to promote the development of such schemata; percep- vii tion of a model whom the child views as possessing attributes he val ues; a set of goals promoted by people the child admires; and, finally, some degree of certainty about the occurrences of each day. Some children are deprived of all or most of these ingredients, and it is this group which is customarily considered "culturally deprived." To summarize: the conference ranged over a variety of environ mental influences on behavior, including nutritional deficiencies and mental development and functioning; the effects of social deprivation on intellectual performance and social behavior among human and infrahuman species; and the influence of cultural deprivations on human cognitive development and organization. It was concluded that neither social nor biological determinants of behavior can be emphasized to the relative exclusion of the other. We would like to thank Dr. Orville G. Brim, Jr., President of Russell Sage Foundation, and Dr. Detlev W. Bronk, President of The Rockefeller University, whose joint efforts and support made the conference possible. We also want to thank Dr. Carl Pfaffmann, Vice President of The Rockefeller University, and Dr. Donald R. Young, Visiting Professor at the Rockefeller and formerly President of Rus sell Sage Foundation. Both men were instrumental in conceiving and implementing the idea of a conference series on biology and behavior. Our gratitude also goes to the following men who served as chairmen of the various sessions: Professors Paul Weiss and Al fred E. Mirsky of the Rockefeller; Professor Stanley Schachter of Columbia University; and Professor Francis H. Palmer of the City University of New York. Russell Sage Foundation was established in 1907 by Mrs. Russell Sage for the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States. In carrying out its purpose, the Foundation conducts research under the direction of members of the staff or in close col laboration with other institutions, and supports programs designed to develop and demonstrate productive working relations between social scientists and other scientific and professional groups. The program in biology and the social sciences represents one such activ ity which was undertaken jointly with The Rockefeller University. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. William Bayless of viii The Rockefeller University Press and to Mrs. Betty Davison of Rus sell Sage Foundation for their assistance in organizing the confer ences, publishing the proceedings, and arranging for promotion and distribution. I would particularly like to thank Mrs. Helene Jordan of The Rockefeller University Press, who performed valuable edi torial work in bringing the present volume to publication. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to one

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