Bilogical Beginnings Flashcards
Evolutionary process by which those individuals of a species that are best adapted to their environment are the ones that are most likely to survive and reproduce
Natural selection
evolutionary psychology
A branch of psychology that emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in shaping behavior.
Species heredity
genes that members of a species all have in common
Purpose of cells
They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. Cells also contain the body’s hereditary material and can make copies of themselves. Cells have many parts, each with a different function.
Center of a cell that contains chromosomes
Nucleus
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures made up of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.
A complex molecule that has a double helix shape and contains genetic information.
DNA
Gene
a segment of DNA
Cellular reproduction in which the cell’s nucleus duplicates itself; two new cells are formed, each containing the same DNA as the original cell, arranged in the same 23 pairs of chromosomes.
mitosis
Gametes
eggs or sperm
A specialized form of cell division that occurs to form eggs and sperm (or gametes).
meiosis
Fertilization
A stage in reproduction when an egg and a sperm fuse to create a single cell, called a zygote.
zygote
A single cell formed through fertilization.
________ are produced after a single cell undergoes cell division
Daughter cells
In mitosis, a single cell becomes two identical cells. Daughter cells in this sense are actually closer to clones. In meiosis, a single cell becomes 4 cells, each with reduced DNA.
Human Genome Project
20,500 genes in humans
Genetic variability
- combining genes of 2 parents
- chromosomes are not exact copies from either parent
- DNA/ mutated genes
- genotypes/phenotypes
All of a person’s actual genetic material.
genotype
Phenotype
Observable and measurable characteristics of an individual, such as height, hair color, and intelligence.
mutated gene
permanently altered segment of DNA
T or F: Most mutated genes are recessive
True
When a mutated gene is carried on the X chromosome
X linked inheritance
Most individuals who have X linked diseases are males: T or F?
True: Males only have one X chromosome so if there’s a mutation they don’t have a 2nd one as a back up like women do.
genetic imprinting
when genes have differing effects depending on whether they are inherited from the mother or father.
A chemical process “silences” one member of the gene pair either maternal or paternal.
Various combinations of many genes that lead to characteristics: i.e.; schizophrenia
Polygenetic transmission or multifactorial transmission:
Epigenetic View
- The interaction of heredity and environment
- Heredity directs the kind of environmental experiences a person has
- There is ongoing bidirectional interchange
- For example, the development of hearing and eyesight
- Critical or sensitive periods of development
twin study
A study in which the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins.
Identical twins
develop from a single fertilized egg that splits into 2 genetically identical organisms
Fraternal twins
develop from 2 separate eggs
no more genetically similar than non twin siblings
Any agent that can potentially cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral outcomes.
teratogen
Psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a pre-dispositional vulnerability, the diathesis, and a stress caused by life experiences
The diathesis–stress model, also known as the vulnerability–stress model
first applied to behavior by Irving Gottesman and James Shields in their classic twin study of schizophrenia. They postulated that a number of different genes along with a number of environmental variables acted as risk and protective factors for the development of schizophrenia.
Liability threshold model
Genie
Famous feral child
the name given to protect her identity – was Genie. Her deranged father had strapped her into a handmade straitjacket and tied her to a chair in a silent room of a suburban house since she was a toddler. He had forbidden her to cry, speak or make noise and had beaten and growled at her, like a dog.
Psychoactive drugs
Affects the nervous system
- Changes mood
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
Illegal substances
- Cocaine
- Marijuana
Identical vs. fraternal twins
(monozygotic vs dizygotic)
Concordance rate
usually means the presence of the same trait in both members of a pair of twins. However, the strict definition is the probability that a pair of individuals will both have a certain characteristic, given that one of the pair has the characteristic.
if one twin shows a disorder what is the probability that the 2nd twin would show the disorder.
