Journal of theoretical biology
-
G. G. Simpson was the first to explain the Baldwin Effect completely in terms of the theory of natural selection. ⋯ The distribution of phenotypes in a population depends largely on the extent of environmental stochasticity. When the environment undergoes intermediate rates of fluctuation, the Simpson-Baldwin effect arises through the interaction of natural selection and mutation on norms of reaction. In a highly volatile environment, organisms benefit from plasticity, and consequently do not experience a Simpson-Baldwin channeling of phenotypic possibility.