Chapter 2 Flashcards
Dichotomy
a division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
Zeitgeist
The general intellectual climate of a culture.
Cartesian dualism
Rene Descartes philosophy that states that the universe is composed of two elements: (1) physical matter, which behaves according to the laws of nature and is thus a suitable object of scientific investigation; and (2) the human mind (soul, self, spirit), which lacks a physical substance, controls human behavior, obeys no natural laws, and is thus the appropriate purview of the Church.
Nature-nurture issue
The debate about whether humans and other animals inherit their behavioral capacities or acquire them through learning.
John B. Watson
The father of behaviorism.
Ethology
The study of animal behavior in the wild.
Instinctive Behaviors
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.
Asomatognosia
A deficiency in the awareness of parts of one’s own body.
Fitness (Darwinian sense)
The ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation.
Conspecifics
Members of the same species.
Species
A group of organisms reproductively isolated from other organisms; that is, the members of a species can produce fertile offspring only by mating with members of the same species.
Chordates
Are animals with dorsal nerve cords (large nerves that run along the center of the back, or dorsum); they are 1 of the 20 or so large categories, or phyla, into which zoologists group animal species.
Vertebrates
Chordates that posses spinal bones to protect their dorsal nerve cords. The spinal bones are called vertebrae.
Amphibians
In their larval form must live in water; only adult amphibians can survive on land.
Hominins
Primates of the family that include humans.
Spandrel
Incidental nonadaptive evolutionary by-product. Example: the belly button.
Exaptations
Characteristics evolved to serve one function and were later co-opted to serve another. Example: bird wings. Initially limbs evolved for the purpose of walking.
Homologous
Structures that are similar because they have a common evolutionary origin.
Analogous
Structures that are similar but do not have a common evolutionary origin.
Convergent Evolution
Evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands.
Brain Stem
Regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival.
Cerebrum
Involved in complex adaptive processes such as learning, perception, and motivation.
Convolutions
Folds on the cerebral surface.
Dichotomous Traits
Occur in one form or other, never in combination. For example, seed color is a dichotomous pea plant trait: every pea plant has either brown or white seeds.
True-breeding lines
Breeding lines in which interbred members always produce offspring with the same trait, generation after generation.
Phenotype
An organism’s observable traits.
Genotype
The traits that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genetic material.
Alleles
The two genes that control the same trait.
Homozygous
Organisms that possess two identical genes for a trait are said to be homozygous for that trait.
Heterozygous
Organisms that possess two different genes for a trait.
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures in the nucleus of each cell. Chromosomes occur in matched pairs, each species has a characteristic number of pairs in each of its body cells; the human body has 23 pairs.
Meiosis
The process of cell division that produces gametes. In meiosis, the chromosomes divide, and one chromosome of each pair goes to each of the two gametes that results from the cell division.
Gametes
Egg cells and sperm cells.
Zygote
Fertilized egg cell.
Mitosis
Cell division in the body.
What are the four nucleotide bases?
Adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine.
Mutations
Accidental alterations in individual genes.
Autosomal Chromosomes
Typical chromosomes which come in matched pairs.
Sex Chromosomes
The pair of chromosomes that determine an individual’s sex.
There are two types, X and Y.
Female mammals have two X chromosomes, and male mammals have one X and one Y.
Proteins
Long chains of amino acids; they control the physiological activities of cells and are important components of cellular structure.
Enhancers
Stretches of DNA whose function is to determine whether particular structural genes initiate the synthesis of proteins and at what rate.
Transcription Factors
Proteins that bind to DNA and influence the extent to which genes are expressed.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
A molecule that is similar to DNA except that it has the nucleotide base uracil and a phosphate and ribose backbone.
Messenger RNA
A strand of RNA that is transcribed from DNA and carries the genetic code out of the cell nucleus to direct the synthesis of protein.
Ribosome
A structure in the cell’s cytoplasm that translates the genetic code from strands of messenger RNA.
Codon
A group of three consecutive nucleotide bases on a DNA or messenger RNA strand; each codon specifies the particular amino acid that is to be added to an amino acid chain during protein synthesis.
Mitochondria
The energy-generating, DNA containing structures in each cell’s cytoplasm.
Epigenetics
A field of research that focuses on factors that influence the expression of genes. / The study of all mechanisms of inheritance other than the genetic code and its expression.
DNA Methylation
An epigenetic mechanism wherein a methyl group attaches to a DNA molecule, usually at cytosine sites in mammals. This tends to reduce the expression of adjacent genes.
Histone Remodeling
An epigenetic mechanism wherein histones change their shape and in doing so influence the shape of the adjacent DNA. This can either increase or decrease gene expressions.
Phenylpyruvic acid
A substance that is found in abnormally high concentrations in the urine of those suffering from phenylketonuria.
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
A neurological disorder whose symptoms are vomiting, seizures, hyperactivity, hyper-irritability, mental retardation, brain damage, and high levels of phenylpyruvic acid in the urine.
Sensitive Period
The period during the development of a particular trait, usually early in life, when a particular experience is likely to change the course of that development.
Sensory Phase
The first of the two phases of birdsong development, during which young birds do not sing but form memories of the adult songs they hear.
Heritability Estimate
A numerical estimate of the proportion of variability that occurred in a particular trait in a particular study and that resulted from the genetic variation among the subjects in that study.
Monozygotic Twins
Identical twins; twins that develop from the same zygote and are thus genetically identical.
Dizygotic Twins
Fraternal twins; twins that develop from two zygotes and thus tend to be as genetically similar as any pair of siblings.
Phylogeny
The evolutionary development of species.
Ontogeny
The development of individuals over their life span.
