Public debate on the reasons for differences in intellectual and social development is generally waged along the lines of “nature vs. nurture”. In other words, our personalities, abilities and social traits are generally deemed to be either genetically determined or shaped by environmental factors. The research of the past 50 years provides convincing evidence that things are not quite so black and white: human development is actually shaped by the complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors.

Beliefs on how cognitive, emotional and social skills develop are of direct significance for policy. Scientific findings have that supporting children at an early stage, when they are in nursery school and in the first years of school, is the most effective way of promoting aspects of development such as language skills and self-direction – and thus, ultimately, of promoting successful integration. But that is not enough. Supportive measures are particularly effective if they are offered during the right phase of development. Corrective measures taken later on are not completely ineffective, but they require a lot more effort and are more costly for society.

Institutions

• National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• Union of German Academies of Sciences
• German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech

Spokespersons of the Working Group

• Prof. Dr. Frank Rösler ML
  Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Dr. Brigitte Röder ML
  Universität Hamburg

Members of the Working Group

• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Baumert ML
  Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Blossfeld ML
  European University Institute Florenz (Italien)
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Cremer ML
  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Prof. Dr. Angela D. Friederici ML
  Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften Leipzig
• Prof. Dr. Markus Hasselhorn
  Deutsches Institut für internationale pädagogische Forschung (DIPF), Frankfurt am Main
• Prof. Dr. Gerd Kempermann
  Technische Universität Dresden und Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Dresden
• Prof. Dr. Ulman Lindenberger ML
  Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Meisel
  Universität Hamburg und University of Calgary (Kanada)
• Prof. Dr. Markus M. Nöthen ML
  Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Prof. Dr. Brigitte Röder ML
  Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Dr. Frank Rösler ML
  Universität Hamburg
• Prof. Dr. C. Katharina Spieß
  Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Frank Spinath
  Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken
• Prof. Dr. Elsbeth Stern
  Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule ETH Zürich (Schweiz)
• Prof. Dr. Gisela Trommsdorff
  Universität Konstanz

ML = member of the Leopoldina