3.1 Biological Psychology

Question 1

Genes

Answer 1

the basic units of heredity

Question 2

DNA

Answer 2

molecule containing the genetic code - double helix - combo of A,C,T,G

Question 3

Genotype

Answer 3

Genetic makeup - alleles that compromise genetic code

Question 4

Phenotype

Answer 4

Physical and behavioural characteristics

Question 5

Chromosomes

Answer 5

structures in the cellular nucleus that are lined with all of the genes an individual inherits - 23 pairs

Question 6

Behavioural genomics

Answer 6

is the study of DNA and the ways in which specific genes are related to behaviour

Question 7

Human genome project

Answer 7

a massive effort to identify the components of the entire human genome (21,300)

Question 8

Behavioural genetics

Answer 8

the study of how genes and the environment influence behaviour

Question 9

Monozygotic twins

Answer 9

Identical - come from a single egg, almost 100% genetically identical

Question 10

Dizygotic twins

Answer 10

Fraternal - come from 2 separate eggs fertilized by 2 diff sperm cells, 50% of genes in common

Question 11

Longitudinal studies

Answer 11

studies that follow the same individuals for many years, often decades

Question 12

Heritability

Answer 12

a statistic, expressed as a number between zero and one, that represents the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to individual differences in a behaviour or trait found in a population (degree of nature vs nurture)

Question 13

Gene expression

Answer 13

occurs when the information in our genes is used to produce proteins

Question 14

Epigenetics

Answer 14

changes in gene expression that occur as a result of experience and that do not alter the genetic code

Question 15

CRISPR - Cas9

Answer 15

a technique that allows genetic material to be removed, added, or altered in specific locations of the genome

Question 16

Natural selection

Answer 16

the process by which favourable traits become increasingly common in a population of interbreeding individuals, while traits that are unfavourable become less common

Question 17

Evolution

Answer 17

the change in the frequency of genes occurring in an interbreeding population over generations

Question 18

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 18

attempts to explain human behaviours based on the beneficial functions they may have served in our species evolutionary history

Question 19

Hunter-gatherer theory

Answer 19

which explicitly links performance on specific tasks to the different roles performed by males and females over the course of our evolutionary history