chapter 2

Question 1

the general intellectual climate of our culture

Answer 1

zeitgeist

Question 2

one element of the universe according to Descartes which behaves according to the laws of nature and is thus a suitable object of scientific investigation—the human body, including the brain, was assumed to be entirely physical, and so were nonhuman animals

Answer 2

physical matter

Question 3

one element of the universe according to Descartes, which lacks physical substance, controls human behavior, obeys no natural laws, and is thus the appropriate purview of theChurch.

Answer 3

the human mind (soul, self, or spirit)

Question 4

French philosopher who advocated a philosophy that resolved the conflict bet scientific knowledge and the church

Answer 4

René Descartes

Question 5

the idea that the human brain and the mind are separate entities

Answer 5

cartesian dualism

Question 6

a debate whether humans and other animals inherit their behavioral capacities or acquire them through learning

Answer 6

nature–nurture issue

Question 7

father of behaviorism

Answer 7

John B. Watson,

Question 8

study of animal behavior in the wild

Answer 8

ethology

Question 9

behaviors that occur in all like members of a species,
even when there seems to have been no opportunity for
them to have been learned

Answer 9

instinctive behaviors

Question 10

the assumption that some aspects of human psychological functioning are so complex that they could not possibly be the product of a physical brain

Answer 10

physiological-or-psychological thinking

Question 11

deficiency in the awareness of parts of one’s own body; typically involves damage to the right parietal lobe.

Answer 11

asomatognosia

Question 12

to undergo gradual orderly change

Answer 12

evolve

Question 13

heritable traits that are associated with high rates of survival and reproduction are the most likely ones to be passed on to future

Answer 13

natural selection

Question 14

the ability of an organism to survive and contribute its
genes to the next generation

Answer 14

fitness

Question 15

established through combative encounters with other males of many species

Answer 15

socIal dominance

Question 16

it precedes copulation in many species and is thought to promote the evolution of new species.

Answer 16

courtship display

Question 17

group of organisms reproductively isolated from other organisms

Answer 17

species

Question 18

members of the same species

Answer 18

conspecifics

Question 19

animals with dorsal nerve cords

Answer 19

chordates

Question 20

spinal bones

Answer 20

vertebrae

Question 21

in their larval form must live in the water; only
adult can survive on land.

Answer 21

amphibians

Question 22

the incidental nonadaptive evolutionary by-products

Answer 22

spandrels

Question 23

evolved to serve one function and were later co-opted to serve another

Answer 23

exaptations

Question 24

Structures that are similar because they have a common
evolutionary origin are termed…

Answer 24

homologous structures

Question 25

structures that are similar but do not have a common evolutionary origin are termed...

Answer 25

analogous

Question 26

evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands

Answer 26

convergent evolution

Question 27

folds on the cerebral surface

Answer 27

convolutions

Question 28

mating arrangement in which the members of both sexes indiscriminately copulate with many different partners during each mating period.

Answer 28

promiscuity

Question 29

enduring mating relationships

Answer 29

mating bonds

Question 30

-arrangement in which one male forms mating bonds with more than one female -inevitable consequence of the selective bonding of female mammals and the nonselective bonding of male mammals

Answer 30

Polygyny

Question 31

-mating arrangement in which one female forms mating bonds with more than one male -occurs only in species in which the contributions of the males to reproduction are greater than those of the females

Answer 31

polyandry

Question 32

mate-bonding pattern in which enduring bonds are formed between one male and one female

Answer 32

Monogamy

Question 33

discrete traits that have only two contrasting phenotypic probabilities.

Answer 33

dichotomous traits

Question 34

breeding lines in which interbred members always produce offspring with the same trait, generation after generation.

Answer 34

true-breeding lines

Question 35

always expressed when the connected allele is dominant, even if only one copy of the it exists

Answer 35

dominant trait

Question 36

expressed only if both the connected alleles are recessive

Answer 36

recessive trait

Question 37

organism’s observable traits

Answer 37

phenotype

Question 38

traits that it can pass on to its offspring through its genetic material

Answer 38

genotype

Question 39

what do you call each inherited factor in genetics

Answer 39

gene

Question 40

two genes that control the same trait are called...

Answer 40

alleles

Question 41

Organisms that possess two identical genes for a trait are said to be...

Answer 41

homozygous

Question 42

those that possess two different genes for a trait are said to be...

Answer 42

heterozygous

Question 43

threadlike structures in the nucleus of each cell

Answer 43

chromosomes

Question 44

accidental alterations in individual genes

Answer 44

mutations

Question 45

four nucleotide bases

Answer 45

adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosin

Question 46

typical chromosomes, which come in matched pairs

Answer 46

autosomal chromosomes

Question 47

pair of chromosomes that determines an individual’s sex

Answer 47

sex chromosomes

Question 48

Traits influenced by genes on the sex chromosomes

Answer 48

sex-linked traits

Question 49

long chains of amino acids; they control the physiological activities of cells and are important components of cellular structure (pp63)

Answer 49

Proteins

Question 50

stretches of DNA whose function is to determine whether particular structural genes initiate the synthesis of proteins and at what rate

Answer 50

Enhancers

Question 51

Proteins that bind to DNA and influence the extent to which genes are expressed are called...

Answer 51

transcription factors

Question 52

is like DNA except that it contains the nucleotide base uracil instead of thymine and has a phosphate and ribose backbone instead of a phosphate and deoxyribose backbone

Answer 52

ribonucleic acid (rna)

Question 53

strand of transcribed RNA; it carries the genetic code out of the nucleus of the cell

Answer 53

messenger rna

Question 54

Each group of three consecutive nucleotide bases along the messenger RNA strand is called...

Answer 54

codon

Question 55

two phases of the process of gene expression

Answer 55

transcription and translation

Question 56

a nearly complete map of the entire set of proteins encoded for by our genes

Answer 56

human proteome

Question 57

the study of all mechanisms of inheritance other than the genetic code and its expression

Answer 57

Epigenetics

Question 58

the reaction that occurs when a methyl group attaches to a DNA molecule, usually at cytosine sites in mammals

Answer 58

dna methylation

Question 59

proteins around which DNA is coiled

Answer 59

histones

Question 60

the reaction that occurs when histones change their shape and in so doing influence the shape of the adjacent DNA

Answer 60

histone remodeling

Question 61

epigenetic effect that regulates gene expression by acting on messenger RNA rather than genes

Answer 61

rna editing

Question 62

a subfield of epigenetics that examines the transmission of experiences via epigenetic mechanisms across generations

Answer 62

transgenerational epigenetics

Question 63

the development of individuals over their life span

Answer 63

ontogeny

Question 64

the evolutionary development of species through the  ages

Answer 64

phylogeny

Question 65

He showed that behavioral traits can be selectively bred.

Answer 65

Tryon

Question 66

have proved that genes influence the development of behavior

Answer 66

Selective-breeding studies

Question 67

rare inherited neurological disorder that causes an amino acid called phenylalanine to build up in the body; can damage the brain and nervous system, which can lead to learning disabilities.

Answer 67

phenylketonuria (Pku)

Question 68

developed from the same zygote and thus are genetically similar

Answer 68

monozygotic twins

Question 69

developed from two zygotes and thus are no more similar than any pair of siblings

Answer 69

dizygotic twins

Question 70

tell us about the contribution of genetic differences to phenotypic differences among the participants in a study

Answer 70

heritability estimate