Nature or nurture? Are individuals born as an empty slate and shaped by their environment or are we already programmed to react in certain ways? Strelau (emeritus, psychology, Warsaw University; professor at the Warsaw School of Social Psychology since 1998) has spent more than fifty years studying this age-old question. He bases some of his conclusions on the pioneering work of the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov but carries them into the 21st century by including genetic studies. Strelau intends this book to provide a framework for others studying the field. He spends several chapters on methodology and also gives the results of his studies, primarily on how different people react in stressful situations.