Insider insights: Professor Giorgio Vallortigara

Nature or nurture? A little bit of both? More of one or the other?

Professor Giorgio Vallortigara, a professor and researcher at the University of Trento, often asks this question in his studies. We’re very much privileged to hear him shed more light on this issue.

• The ancient nature-nurture problem has interested philosophers and scientists for centuries. Why do we need to ask the help of animals to arrive at an answer?

• Which are the best animal models in this field?
  This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube.
• Recently, you advanced the intriguing hypothesis according to which chicks could be a valuable model for understanding the origin of autism spectrum disorders: can you tell us something more about this?

• The fact that a given cognitive skill is inborn in an animal model does not automatically imply that such a cognitive skill is also inborn in humans. Is there a way to ensure that results from animal models can be easily translated to humans?

• What are your suggestions for a young researcher trying to tackle the nature-nurture debate?