Chapter 3 Flashcards
altricial species
the young are incapable of moving around on their own and are dependent on their parent(s) for food and safety for some period of time after hatching/birth
precocial species
the young are physically mobile and able from the moment of birth or hatching
nativism
the view that many skills or abilities are ‘native’ or hard wired into the brain at birth, the result of genetic inheritance
empiricism
the view that humans are not born with built-in ‘core knowledge’ or mental content and that all knowledge results from learning and experience
cognition
mental activity, such as attention, memory, problem-solving, thinking, intelligence
chronological age (CA)
a person’s actual age, as opposed to their mental age
intelligence quotient (IQ)
a measure of a person’s level of intelligence compared to a population of individuals of approximately the same age. a score of around 100 indicates average intelligence, scores above and below 100, indicate, respectively, above and below average intelligence
standardised test
a test of psychological characteristic, such as personality, aptitude, or intelligence, that has been standardised on a representative sample of the population
g
the term used to denote general intelligence
heritability
a statistical measure that describes how much of the variation of a trait in a population is due to genetic differences (rather than environmental differences) in that population
genetic determinism
the hypothesis that people become who they are as a consequence of their genetic inheritance
environmentalism
the hypothesis that people become who they are as a consequence of the learning and experiences they have had throughout life
familial resemblance
the resemblance between relatives whose genetic relationship to each other is known
monozygotic (identical) twins
genetically identical twins, developed from one ovum and one sperm which divides into two shortly after conception. such twins have the same genetic make-up
dizygotic (fraternal) twins
individuals who are conceived at the same time but result from two eggs being fertilised by different sperm. thus, they are like regular siblings and share half of their genes
missing heritability
the failure to find any of the genes associated with cognitive abilities
genotype
an individual’s inherited genetic makeup
phenotype
the interaction of genetic and environmental influences to create an individual’s physical appearance and behaviour: genotype and environment interactions (GE) -> phenotype (P)
phenylketonuria (PKU)
a rare genetic mutation, if left untreated, results in severe mental retardation and learning difficulties
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
a collection of lung disorders such as emphysema and bronchitis and airflow obstruction. people with COPD have difficulty breathing
fatty acids
the building blocks of the fat in our bodies and in the food we eat. they have many important functions in the body, including energy storage
environmental drift
changes in developmental functions that result from, and are in the direction of changing environments
flynn effect
an increase in the average intelligence quotient (IQ) test scores over generations
Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM)
a culture-free non-verbal intelligence test with items arranged in order of difficulty
malnutrition
a serious condition that occurs when a person’s diet does not contain the right amounts of nutrients
poverty
the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. in practice, this level is significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries
