This accounts for how people respond in different ways to the same environment. Canalization is the genetic restriction of development to one or a few potential outcomes. Highly canalized traits require extreme environmental conditions to deter their genetically set outcomes. The concept of genetic-environmental correlation states that our genes influence the environments to which we are exposed. In a passive genetic-environmental correlation, a child has no control over the environment available to him or her.
Parents create an environment compatible with their own heredity.
In an evocative genetic-environmental correlation, a child behaves in ways consistent with his or her own heredity. The responses evoked from others will, in turn, strengthen the child's original response. An active genetic-environmental correlation is more common at older ages. As children extend their experiences beyond the immediate family, they choose environments that complement their genetic tendencies. The tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredity is called niche-picking.