Chapter 4 - Genes, Evolution and Behaviour Flashcards
what is the heritability coefficient
extent to which the degree of variation in a particular characteristic among a group of people can be attributed to genetic factors
what is concordance
the likelihood that two people share a aprticular chracteristic
describe what an adoption study entails
study of children who were adopted by comparing to both sets of parents
if more similar to biological parents - genetically influenced
if more similar to adoptive parents - environmentally influenced
what is the difference between gene and chromosome
● Gene: a DNA portion of the chromosome that carries the hereditary blueprint.
● Chromosome: a tightly coiled molecule of DNA that’s partly covered by
protein.
● Difference is that the chromosome is made up of genes.
what is genetic determinism
The view that genes have invariant and unavoidable effects.
It’s also the belief that human behavior is directly controlled by an individual’s genes.
Intelligence is based largely on ________, but also influenced by __________
Genetics, Environment
what is concordance
the likelihood that two people share a particular characteristic
in adoptions what does it mean if
the child is more similar to biological parents
the child is more similar to adoptive parents
More similar to biological: genetic influence
More similar to adoptive: environmental influence
Identical twins raised ______ have higher correlation on IQ scores than identical twins raised ______
Identical twins raised together have higher correlation on IQ scores than identical twins raised apart
what is reaction range
the range of possibilities (upper and lower limits) that genetic code allows for a genetically influenced trait
what would be the ideal approach to observe genetics and personality
Ideal method approach to observe genetics and personality would be to observe personality traits in identical and fraternal twins who were reared together or apart
would allow for the observation of genetics, environment and unique individual experiences
explain the definition of evolution in terms of genetics
the change over time in the frequency with which particular genes occur within a population
explain natural selection
characteristics that increase the likelihood of survival and ability to reproduce within a particular environment will be more likely to be preserved in the population and become more common over time
what is beneficial about adaptation
allows organisms to meet recurring environmental challenged to their survival, thereby increasing their reproductive ability
eastyn starts a species of eastyns. her species has an issue though, it is all female so theres no way to reproduce. the species eventually evolves both male and female sex organs.
what type of adaptation is this
domain-specific adaptation
designed to solve and particular problem
what is evolution personality theory
traits exist universally in humans because they have helped humans achieve the goals of physical survival
define parental investment
time, effort, energy, and risk associated with caring successfully for each offspring
_______ _______ identified that the parent who invests most in offspring will be more competed for and thus will discriminate more when choosing a mate
robert trivers
___________ mating system is expected when both parental investments is since, since it is unlikely that a single parent can successfully raise offspring
monogamous
_______ is a mating type that is rare where females mate is many males
polyandry
the Five Factor Model states that individual differences in personality can be accounted for by 5 variations, name em
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
how does the concept of reaction range illustrate the interaction between heredity and environment
Using the concept of range of reaction, a scientist would say that intelligence is determined by genes but manifests according to what the environment demands.
In other words, if a child has the potential to be a genius, that potential must also be nurtured through education, nutrition, and a safe environment.
what are alleles
The two genes, one on each chromosome, that control the same trait.
what is Polygenic Transmission
A number of genes working together to create a particular phenotypic characteristic.
intelligence is an example of this
According to the results of the Minnesota Twin Study, what factors were the most important in determining personality?
family environment accounted for little to no variation in any traits
the individuals’ unique experience, such as school experiences, social interactions, and individual learning experiences, was an important factor and accounted for 36 to 56 percent of the variation in individual personality traits.
How might genes influence the tendency to enjoy reading or participating in organized sports?
Certain inherited factors (e.g., physical characteristics such as muscle coordination) may predispose individuals to prefer certain activities.
Mechanisms that receive input from the environment, process the information, and respond to it are called what
Biologically based Mechanisms
Describe examples of human behavior that suggest innate evolved mechanisms.
(give like 2)
Infants are born with an innate ability to acquire any language spoken in the world.
Newborns are prewired to perceive specific stimuli.
At one week of age, human infants show primitive mathematical skills, successfully discriminating between two and three objects.
Humans, like other social animals, tend to be altruistic and helpful to other members of their own group.
According to evolutionary theorists, what is the origin of the basic personality traits?
They have helped us achieve 2 goals:
physical survival
reproduction of the species
Traits such as extraversion and emotional stability were helpful in attaining positions of dominance and mate selection.
Conscientiousness and agreeableness might be particularly important to group survival, as well as in reproduction and the care of children.
Explain Evolutionary Personality Theory
attempts to account for personality traits in terms of the evolutionary history of the human species; these traits are thought to develop from processes of natural selection
How does the idea of parental investment explain differences in physical size between the sexes?
most mammals are polygynous (males may mate with many females)
polygynous systems lead to larger males, as size and strength is an advantage in male-male competition
define polyandry
one female mates with many males.
all members of a group mate with all other members of that group.
this is called _________
polygynandry
ow are male and female mate preferences similar? How are they different?
Women prefer older men, men prefer younger women.
Men don’t have a preference on parental investment, women prefer it.
Males prefer attractiveness over parental investment.
Why do women in all cultures tend to marry older men?
they are associated with respect, status, and access to resources
Why do women and men find a symmetrical face attractive?
A symmetrical face is a sign that the person is free of parasites or has a genetic resistance to parasites, and has had a healthy and normal physical development.
What is the difference between cooperation and altruism?
Cooperation helps both individuals, altruism only helps the one person.
what is Kin selection
The view that organisms are most likely to help others with whom they share the most genes—namely, their offspring and genetic relatives.
What is the theory of reciprocal altruism
View that altruism is long-term cooperation; one individual may help another but that assistance will be reciprocated at some time in the future
Evolutionarily, what function or functions does aggression serve?
a means to protect one’s mate, young, territory, or food, to co-opt others’ resources, or to gain access to unclaimed resources.
who was Gregor Mendel
a monk performing research with garden peas in the 1860s lead to the beginning of modern genetic theory.
eastyn starts a species with josh allen. in this species, the josh’s are discriminated against, and the eastyns are discriminative against the josh’s.
what type of mating system is this
polygny
men mate as much as possible and women are discriminating of their mates, occurs when female invests more into offspring
eastyn and youngboy start a cult named “AI Youngboy II” in this cult, everyone fucks everyone and there are no prolonged relations
what mating system is this
Polygynandry
what does social Darwinism state?
those at the top of social latter are genetically the best
Apart from genetic makeup, how else are monozygotic twins similar or the same?
The monozygotic twins may go through similar experiences since they look the same.
why arre dominance hierarchies beneficial
allow group members to determine access to resources without unnecessary and costly aggressive encounters.
guess who
believed natural songs of smart people did better than adopted ones,
measured simple motor and sensory abilities,
believed that intelligence was mental quickness,
invented correlation coefficient
Galton
guess who
reported that the heritability coefficient of intelligence was 1 (purely genetic) but it turns out he made the data up
Sir cyril burt
guess who
estimated intelligence coefficient was 0.72 by studying twins
Bouchard
what is a karyotype
a genetic blueprint
humans have ____ pairs of chromosomes ___ total
___ of which are autosomes and __ are sex chromosomes
23 pairs, 46 total
22 pairs of autosomes, 1 pair are sex chromosomes (XX or XY)
______ chromosomes are smaller than ___________
sex chromosomes are smaller than autosomes
genes provide a temples for _____, which then provides a template for ________ molecules
genes provide a template for RNA, which then provides a template for protein molecules
the influences of genes is through ________ ___________, there are no genes “for” a specific trait
protein synthesis
why do people say there is a gene “for” something
use the example of intelligence discusses in the lectures
the gene “for” intelligence is really that of reaction time
is someone’s genetics endowed them with thicker myelinated sheaths then their neurons will fire more rapidly, which is linked to intelligence
thus the gene “for” intelligence is really the gene for myelination
what is the critical period
an early stage in life when an organism is especially open to specific learning, emotional, or socializing experiences that occur as part of normal development and will not recur at a later stage.
if certain skills are not developed in the critical period, they will never be learnt
distinguish between genotype and phenotype
genotype is the set of genes inherited
phenotype is the outward expression of genotype (characteristics, behaviors, etc)
why cant we infer phenotype from genotype
outward characteristics may not indicate underlying genetic contribution
example - hair color is based on genetics, yet someone who is blonde could have modified their phenotypic expression by bleaching it
what do you call two alleles that are the same
homozygous
what do you call two different alleles
heterozygous alleles
eastyn and obama have a baby boy. their eyes are boht brown, what does this mean for their baby?
the phenotypic outcome of the baby’s eye color is guaranteed to be the same as his parents
eastyn and ed sheeran have a baby girl. eastyn has brown hair and ed has ginger hair, what hair color will she prolly have
brown because it is dominant
another way to say polygenetic effect is _______ genetic
multiple genetic
how to we calculate heritability (h^2) (how much observed variability due to genetic factors alone)
variance due to genes/ total variance
describe a heritability of 0.0
the effect is totally due to the environment
describe a heritability of 1.0
the effect is totally due to genes
t or f
heritability applies to individuals
false
heritability applies to groups not individuals
why? if you look at one individual there is no variability
eastyn is looking at a groups of Inuit people, she notices that they ALL have black hair.
what can she say about their hair color variability (assuming it is not dyed)
there is no variability (they are all the same), and since hair is genetically coded for
the heritability = 1.0 (completely due to genetics)
heritability calculation increases as ______ ________ increases
genetic diversity
why did Galton suggest that intelligence was totally genetic
because the relatives of intelligent people were also intelligent
adopted sons were not
in bouchards twin study he found that the heritability for intelligence of identical twins reared apart is 0.72
what can we then generally deduce about heritability itself
heritability’s coefficient is 0.72
because heritability cannot actually be measured, we take identical twins reared apart as the most accurate account for the heritability of intelligence
eastyn has a baby, her baby has a recessive gene on autosome number 12
what genetic disorder does it have? what does this cause? how can she treat it?
PKU
causes a lack of the enzyme that converts phenylalanine into tyrosine
her baby had severe brain damage and mental retardation
treated through diet control
eastyn has a baby, it has a recessive gene on pair 15
what genetic disorder does it have? what does this cause? how can she treat it?
Tay Sachs disease
lacks enzyme that breaks down fatty acids
leads to blindness, deaf and inability to swallow and mental impairment
her baby will die by 4
eastyn has a twins, a girl and a boy
which one is more susceptible to sex linked disorders
for all sex linked disorders men are more susceptible because the Y chromosome is shorter
eastyn has a baby, it has a dominant gene on autosome pair number 4
what genetic disorder does it have? what does this cause?
it has Huntington’s disease
onset, 35-40
her baby will first be clumsy and forgetful
then rogressive deterioration in muscle control
eastyn has a baby, which has an extra chromosome on it’s 21st pair
what disorder does it have? what does this cause
down syndrome
due to the accumulation of a protein called amyloid
nervous system abnormalities
mild to moderate retardation
shorter life expectancy
physical appearance (mongolism)
__________ is all about changing to meet environmental needs
adaptation
what are proximal and distal causes of behavior
proximal - the immediate mechanisms that meet certain needs and influence our behaviour (the here and now)
distal - evolutionary processes that drive us to meet those needs
(eg. evolutionairy causes)
what is genetic drift
the change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random chance.
eg. people with genes expressing schizophrenia move to the youkon, making the expression in that gene in this population more likely over time
nothing to do with selection
what is Correlate of structure
one trait that is selected causes other related traits to be selected for
eg. opposable thumbs and hand size
