Chapter 2 - Evolution, Genetics, and Experience Flashcards
Cartesian dualism
The philosophical position of René Descartes, who argued that the universe is composed of two elements: physical matter and the human mind
Nature-nurture issue
The debate about the relative contributions of nature (genes) and nurture (experience) to the behavioral capacities of individuals
Ethology
The study of the behavior of animals in their natural environments
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 awarenesss of parts of one’s own body that is typically produced by damage to the right parietal lobe
Evolve
To undergo gradual orderly change
Natural selection
The idea that those heritable traits that are associated with high rates of survival and reproduction are the most likely to be passed on to future generations
Fitness
According to Darwin, the ability of an organism to survive and contrivute its genes to the next generation
Species
A group of organisms that is reproductively isolated from other organisms; the members of one species cannot produce fertile offspring by mating with members of other species
Conspecifics
Members of the same species
Chordates
Animals with dorsal nerve cords (e.g. humans, monkeys, kangaroos)
Vertebrates
Chordates that possess spinal bones
Amphibians
Species that must live in water during their larval phase; adult amphibians can survive on land
Mammals
A class of animals whose young are fed from mammary glands
Primates
One of 20 different orders of mammals; there about a dozen families of primates
Hominins
Primates of the same group that includes humans
Spandrels
Incidental nonadaptive evolutionary by-products of some adaptive characteristic
Exaptation
A characteristic that evolved to serve one function and was later co-opted to serve another function
Homologous
Having a similar structure because of a common evolutionary origin (e.g., a human’s arm and a bird’s wing are homologous)
Analogous
Having a similar structure because of a common evolutionary origin (e.g., a human’s arm and a bird’s wing are homologous)
Convergent evolution
The evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands
Brain stem
The part of the brain on which the cerebral hemispheres rest; in general, it regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival (e.g., heart rate and respiration)
Cerebrum
The portion of the brain that sits above the brain stem; in general, it plays a role in complex adaptive processes (e.g., learning, perception, and motivation)
Convolutions
Folds on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres
Dichotomous traits
Traits that occur in one form or the other, never in combination
True-breeding lines
Breeding lines in which interbred members always produce offspring with the same trait, generation after generation
Dominant trait
The trait of a dichotomous pair that is expressed in the phenotypes of heterozygous individuals
Recessive trait
The trait of a dichotomous pair that is expressed in the phenotypes of heterozygous individuals
Phenotype
An organism’s observable traits
Genotype
The traits that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genetic material
Gene
A unit of inheritance; for example the section of a chromosome that controls the synthesis of one protein
Alleles
The two genes that control the same trait
Homozygous
Possessing two identical genes for a particular trait
Heterozygous
Possessing two different genes for a particlar trait
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures in the cell necules that contain the genes; each chromosomes is a DNA molecule
Gametes
Egg cells and sperm cells
Meiosis
The process of cell division that produces cells (e.g. egg and sperm cells) with half the chromosomes of the parent cell
Zygote
The cell formed fromthe amalgamation (combination) of a sperm cell and an ovum
Genetic recombination
The meiotic process by which pairs of chromosomes cross over one another at random points, break apart, and exchange genes
Mitosis
The process of cell divisoin that produces cells with the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
The double-stranded, coiled molecule of genetic material
Nucleotide bases
A class of chemical substances that includes adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine - constituents of DNA
Replication
The process by which the DNA molecule duplicates itself
Mutations
Accidental alterations in individual genes
Autosomal chromosomes
Chromosomes that come in matched pairs; in mammals, all of the chromosomes except the sex chromosomes are autosomal
Sex chromosomes
The pair of chromosomes that determine an individual’s genetic sex: XX for a female and XY for a male
Sex-linked traits
Traits that are influenced by genes on the sec chromosomes
Proteins
Long chains of amino acids
Amino acids
The building blocks of proteins
Promoters
Stretches of DNA whose function is to determine whether or not particular structural genes are converted into proteins through the process of gene expression
Gene expression
The production of the protein specified by a particular gene
Activators
Proteins that bind to DNA and increase gene expression
Repressors
Proteins that bind to DNA and decrease gene expression
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 then moves out of the cell nucleus where it is translated into a protein
Translation
The second phase of gene expression, wherein the strand of messenger RNA (mRNA) is converted by a ribosome and transfer RNA (tRNA) into a protein
Ribosome
Intracellular structures found in large numbers in the cytoplasm of living cells. They are involved in the translation phase of gene expression
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
Transer RNA
Molecules of RNA that carry amino acids to ribosomes during protein synthesis; each kind of amino acid is carried by a different kind of transfer RNA molecule
Human Genome Project
The international research effort to construct a detailed map of the human chromosomes
Human proteome
A map of the entire set of proteins encoded for by human genes
Epigenetics
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. DNA methylation can either decrease or increase gene expression
Histone remodeling
An epigenetic mechanism wherein histones change their shape and in so doing influence the shape of the adjacent DNA. This can either increase or decrease gene expression,
Histone
A protein around which DNA is coiled
Epigenome
A catalogue of all the epigenetic mechanisms at play within a particular cell type
Epitranscriptome
Refers to all those modifications of RNA that occur after transcription—that do not involve modifications to the RNA base sequence
Transgenerational epigentics
A subfield of epigenetics that examines the transmission of experiences via epigenetic mechanisms across generations
Ontogeny
The development of individuals over their life span
Phylogeny
The evolutionary development of species
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
A neurological disorder whose symptoms are vomiting, seizures, hyperactivity, hyperirritability, intellectual disability, brain damage, and high levels of phenylpyruvic acid in the urine
Phenylpyruvic acid
A substance that is found in abnormally high concentrations in the urine of those suffering from phenylketonuria
Sensitive period
An interval of time during development when an experience can have a greater effect on development if it occurs during that interval, as opposed to outside that interval
Monozygotic twins
Twins that develop from the same zygote and are thus genetically identical
Dizygotic twins
Twins that develop from two zygotes and thus tend to be as genetically similar as any pair of siblings
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
