Ch 2. Biological Beginnings Flashcards
Evolutionary Psychology
Emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in shaping behavior.
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures that come in 23 pairs, with one member of each pair coming from each parent. Chromosomes contain the genetic substance DNA.
DNA
A complex molecule that contains genetic information.
Genes
Units of hereditary information composed of DNA. Genes help cells to reproduce themselves and help manufacture the proteins that maintain life.
Mitosis
Cellular reproduction in which the cell’s nucleus duplicates itself with two new cells being formed, each containing the same DNA as the parent cell, arranged in the same 23 pairs of chromosomes.
Meiosis
A specialized form of cell division that occurs to form eggs and sperm (also known as gametes).
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.
Genotype
A person’s genetic heritage; the actual genetic material.
Phenotype
The way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observed and measurable characteristics.
Down Syndrome
A form of intellectual disability that is caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21.
Klinefelter syndrome
a chromosomal disorder in which males have an extra X chromosome, making them XXY instead of XY. Males with this disorder have undeveloped testes, and they usually have enlarged breasts and become tall.
Fragile X Syndrome
A genetic disorder involving an abnormality in the X chromosome, which becomes constricted and often breaks.
Turner Syndrome
A chromosome disorder in females in which either an X chromosome is missing, making the person XO instead of XX, or the second X chromosome is partially deleted.
XYY Syndrome
A chromosomal disorder in which males have an extra Y chromosome.
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
A genetic disorder in which an individual cannot properly metabolize an amino acid called phenylalanine. PKU is now easily detected but, if left untreated, results in intellectual disability and hyperactivity.
Sickle-Cell Anemia
A genetic disorder that affects the red blood cells and occurs most often in people of African descent.
Behavior Genetics
The field that seeks to discover the influence of heredity and environment on individual differences in human traits and development.
Twin Study
A study in which the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins.
Adoption Study
A study in which investigators seek to discover whether, in behavior and psychological characteristics, adopted children are more like their adoptive parents, who provided a home environment, or more like their biological parents, who contributed their heredity. Another form of the adoption study compares adoptive and biological siblings.
Passive genotype-environment correlations
Correlations that exist when the natural parents, who are genetically related to the child, provide a rearing environment for the child.
Evocative genotype-environment correlations
Correlations that exist when the child’s genetically influenced characteristics elicit certain types of environments.
Active (niche-picking) genotype-environment correlations
Correlations that exist when children seek out environments they find compatible and stimulating.
Shared Environmental Experiences
Siblings’ common environmental experiences, such as their parents’ personalities and intellectual orientation, the family’s socioeconomic status, and the neighborhood in which they live.
Nonshared Environmental Experiences
The child’s own unique experiences, both within the family and outside the family, that are not shared with another sibling. Thus, experiences occurring within the family can be part of the “nonshared environment.”
Epigenetic View
Emphasizes that development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional interchange between heredity and environment.
Gene × Environment (G × E) interaction
The interaction of a specific measured variation in the DNA and a specific measured aspect of the environment.
