![](https://d3ilqtpdwi981i.cloudfront.net/O3f2ngYY5GQxz9jogcCDwJzLALE=/425x550/smart/https://bepress-attached-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/da/aa/d5/daaad5a5-3368-4a9b-9556-54c394d12f2d/thumbnail_BPFile%20object.jpg)
The development of a phenotype is due to an interaction of the genotype with the environment. Two terms have been used to describe the outcome of this interaction, the norm-of-reaction and the reaction range. The first represents the theoretically limitless distribution of the phenotypes that may be expressed by a given genotype. The reaction range implies an upper and lower limit for phenotype expression possible from a given genotype. A critical distinction between the reaction range and the norm-of-reaction is that the norm-of-reaction is a statement of the conceivable interactions found but does not imply any predictability other than that within the conditions previously tested experimentally, that is, the tails of a normal distribution are infinitely variable, whereas the concept of reaction range implies a limitation inherent in the genotype, that is, a finite range. Empirical support for the reaction-range concept is questionable. Animal studies cited in support of the reaction range have been inappropriately and incorrectly interpreted.
- Norm-of-Reaction,
- Reaction Range,
- Intelligence,
- Race,
- Genes
- Behavioral Disciplines and Activities,
- Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms,
- Biological Psychology,
- Clinical Epidemiology,
- Clinical Psychology,
- Cognitive Psychology,
- Mental Disorders,
- Personality and Social Contexts,
- Psychiatry,
- Psychiatry and Psychology,
- Psychological Phenomena and Processes,
- Psychology and
- Quantitative Psychology