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Developmental Psychology 1a > Chapter 2 > Flashcards

Chapter 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a reason for the certain patterns of development/aging that are universal?

A

Species heredity

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2
Q

What is evolutionary theory?

A

By Darwin, it sought to explain how the characteristics of a species change over time and how new species evolve from earlier ones.

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3
Q

What arguments does evolutionary theory suggest?

A
  1. There is genetic variation in a species
  2. Some genes aid adaptation more than others do
  3. Genes that aid their bearers in adapting to their environment will be passed to future generations more frequently than genes that do not
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4
Q

Evolution is not just about genes..

A

.. it is the interaction between genes and environment. A particular genetic makeup may only enhance survival in one kind of environment but be maladaptive in another. It is nature and nurture.

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5
Q

What do modern evolutionary psychologists do?

A

They ask about how the characteristics and behaviours we observe in humans today may have helped our ancestors adapt to their environment.

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6
Q

What makes humans unique according to Tomasello (evolutionary psychologist)?

A

Our evolved ability to collaborate and cooperate with others

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7
Q

What are the two main approaches to achieving survival, reproduction and the passing on of genes?

A
  1. A mating strategy - where people put most of their energy to finding and mating with multiple partners
  2. Parental investment strategy - where people settle on a mate and then invest their energies in jointly rearing a small number of offspring (mothers more than fathers)
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8
Q

Mothers and fathers with different mating approaches

A

Mothers typically emphasize parental investment more than fathers and fathers are more likely to become involved in parenting when efforts will increase the survival and welfare of offspring, with certainty the children are theirs and when there are limited mating opportunities with other females

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9
Q

Why do some cultures emphasize parental investment strategy more than others?

A

Human children learn through their early experience which reproductive strategy is most adaptive to their environment

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10
Q

What are the two life history strategies?

A
  1. Slow-track strategy
  2. Fast-track strategy
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11
Q

When is a slow-track strategy more likely to be adopted?

A

When life is secure and predictable

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12
Q

When is a fast-life strategy more likely to be adopted?

A

When in stressful environments where life is harsh and unpredictable and possibly short. Here, mating strategy is favoured over parental investment.

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13
Q

What is the fast-track strategy involve?

A

It is focused on the present and one’s self-interest and is associated later with aggressive behaviour and poor academic performance

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14
Q

What is a faster process of adapting to the environment that operated parallel to biological evolution?

A

Cultural evolution

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15
Q

What do the other 98% of genes that do not code do?

A

They regulate the activity of genes

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16
Q

What are the epigenetic effects of environmental influences on genetic code?

A

They do not change the code itself but involve chemical codings on top of genes that activate or deactivate those genes.

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17
Q

What are the 3 kinds of inheritance?

A

Single gene-pair, sex-linked and polygenic

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18
Q

Do mothers or fathers produce gametes with more mutations?

A

Fathers contribute more new mutations and the odds of mutations caused by errors in meiosis increase steadily as fathers get older

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19
Q

CNVs and polygenic disorders

A

CNVs increase the risks of a number of polygenic disorders involving the nervous system

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20
Q

What is Turner Syndrome?

A

It is when a female is born with 1 X chromosome instead of two. they are often, small, underdeveloped, favour traditionally feminine activities and often have lower than average spatial/mathematical abilities

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21
Q

What is Klinefelter syndrome?

A

A male that is born with an extra X chromosome. They tend to have long limbs and sometimes big ears and long faces. At puberty they may show feminine characteristics such as large breasts and many have language learning disabilities.

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22
Q

XYY syndrome

A

Where a male tends to be tall and strong but often have learning disabilities

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23
Q

Huntington’s disease

A

A genetic disorder with a single dominant gene that usually strikes in middle age that disrupts the expression of genes in the nervous system which results in motor problems, personality changes and dementia

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24
Q

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

A

A metabolic disorder caused by a single pair of recessive genes that results in brain damage and intellectual disability. They lack a critical enzyme needed to metabolise phenylalanine - a food component. When it accumlated, it turns into an acid that attacks the nervous system.

25
Q

What are the 4 techniques often used in prenatal diagnosis?

A

Ultrasound
Amniocentesis
Chorionic villus sampling
Maternal blood sampling

26
Q

What is heritability?

A

The proportion of all variability in the trait within a large sample of people that can be linked to genetic differences among those individuals

27
Q

What do behavioural geneticists examine?

A

They look at both genetic and environmental factors to differences among people

28
Q

What has experimental breeding shown?

A

Genes contribute to learning ability, activity level

29
Q

How do behavioural genetics researchers determine what is genetically or environmentally determined?

A

By studying twins, adoption and other family groups

30
Q

What are the limitations of twin studies?

A
  1. Identical twins are more psychologically similar than fraternal twins so they may not be beneficial for study
  2. Many twins are raised in a household as twins (such as wearing the same clothes, same treatment etc.) which could also explain similarities than genes
31
Q

How do researchers look at nature/nurture for adoption studies?

A

If adopted children better resemble their biological parents even in a new environment, it suggests a stronger influence by genes

32
Q

What are the limitations of adoption studies?

A
  1. The prenatal environment of the biological mother also influence a child - not just genes
  2. Adoption agencies also try to place children in homes close to their own
  3. Most adoption homes are higher in income and education so to find a wide range of environments is difficult
33
Q

How do researchers use statistics to determine hereditary/environmental characteristics?

A

They use concordance rates where if a trait has a higher concordant rate (shown in one family member and as well as the other) the trait is heritable

34
Q

What do researchers use if they cant use concordance rate?

A

When a trait is measured in continuation degrees (such as height) than correlation coefficients are used to see systematic relation

35
Q

How to researchers determine which specific genes impact certain traits?

A

They use gene collecting cells (such as cheek cells from swabs and through genome-wide association studies, identify which genes distinguish individuals who do and do not have a trait of interest. However, we have failed to far to identify genes that account for large percentages of variation in traits as large numbers of genes seem to contribute (small) to each polygenic trait.

36
Q

All genes….

A

cause individual differences in all of the human traits studied

37
Q

Characteristics about traits and genes

A
  1. The heritability of human physical and psychological traits average about 50% overall: environment accounts for the other half
  2. Correlations between identical twins average about twice the size of fraternal twins
  3. Shared environment plays a role for some traits but nonshared environment influences in indidivuals are more important in creating individual differences than shared common to siblings
38
Q

What are examples of highly heritable characteristics?

A

Weight, brain activity patterns and reactions to alcohol

39
Q

How heritable is intelligence?

A

Moderately (50%)

40
Q

What do shared environments do?

A

Make individuals more alike, any other is nonshared experiences which make people different

41
Q

genetic influences and learning experiences

A

Genetics appear to be more important over time than lose importanc e as a source of individual differences: from under 25% to 70% in adolescence - with shared experiences explaining 30% of differences in childhood

42
Q

What impacts IQ?

A
  1. Age
  2. SES (more opportunities to realise true genetic potential)
43
Q

Shared environments and personality

A

Living in the same environment does not do much to make children more similar in temperament and personality - familial influences do more to make children alike than different

44
Q

Genes and experience interplay

A

The effects of genes depend on what kind of environment we experience and the effects of experience depend on what genes we have

45
Q

When does the Diathesis-Stress Model occur?

A

When a combination of high-risk genes and environment triggers a disorder, the model occurs.

46
Q

The Differential Susceptibility Model

A

Certain genes that can increase the risk of a mental disorder when the individual goes through stressful events can also benefit the individual more in positive environments

47
Q

What does gene-environment correlations say?

A

Each person’s genetic makeup also influences the kind of experience they seek

48
Q

What are the 3 gene-environment correlations?

A
  1. Passive
  2. Active
  3. Evocative
49
Q

What does passive gene-environment do?

A

When parents who have certain traits and have home environments that support those traits, their children will likely make their children have more of that trait

50
Q

What does evocative gene-environment do?

A

It makes it so a child with a certain genotype will envoke certain kinds of reactions and experiences

51
Q

What does active gene-environment do?

A

It makes it so the genotype of a child influences the kinds of environments they seek and create

52
Q

What are the implications of gene-environment correlation?

A

That children who are genetically similar might create similar experiences.

53
Q

Examples of where genes impact experiences?

A
  1. Aspects of parenting
  2. Time spent watching TV
  3. Number of stressful life events experienced
  4. Likelihood of divorce
54
Q

What is are examples of genetically informed research?

A
  1. Determining whether an environmental influence is just as evident among adoptive children as among biological
  2. To study identical twins to see if differences in their development are systematically related to differences in experience
55
Q

What has research found on the transmission of experiences?

A

Experiences that parent’s face can be detected in their descendants across multiple generations

56
Q

How does intergenerational transmission of epigenetic effects occur?

A

The gene that is responsible for detecting stimuli that induces fear can be methylated - most of these markings are often erased soon after conception and can be undone with drugs or interventions

57
Q

What are the ethical issues of genetic research application?

A

Its questionable whether parents should be given information of future or possible diseases/intellect their baby might have in case they may abort it, and to alter a person’s genetic makeup (such as with CRIPSR tech)

58
Q

What are the problems with the application of genetic research?

A

Since there is not 1 gene that causes diseases and since the environment also plays a role, genetic research may not actually help people for a long time

Developmental Psychology 1a (6 decks)

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