Chapter 6 - Genes, Evolution and Behaviour Flashcards
What is the breakdown of the genetic structure
Genome, Chromosome, Gene, Allele
Genotype
An organisms Genetic Makeup
Phenotype
A Descriptive measurement of observable traits
Dominant Gene
A gene that takes phenotypical priority and masks other genes.
Recessive Gene
A gene that is expressed only in the absence of dominant genes.
Polygenic Transmission
A single phenotype that is controlled by more than one pair of genes
Epigenetics
The study of changes in genes caused by environmental factors (why twins do not share identical Genomes as they age)
Darwins Finches
The various types of finches found on the four Galapagos islands leading to the development of the natural selection theory of evolution.
Genetic Engineering
The attempt to mold and change genes to fulfil a need or desire. Interference with genetic code.
Knockout Procedure
A form of genetic engineering where a gene is knocked out or made inoperative, where behaviour is then compared to a control with no changes, used to determine which genes control which behaviours.
Knockin Procedure
A Genetic enginerring procedure in which a gene is replaced instead of completely being removed
Knockin and Knockout problems
genes can influence more than one behaviour making it difficult to pinpoint an exact relation, and some behaviours are controlled by multiple genes.
Heritability
The extent to which variation of a trait is caused by genes and what is caused by environement.
Heritability Coefficient
Think of like a correlation coefficient a quantitative measure that expresses the relationship because variation and heritability, cannot be generalized.
Heredity
The passing of traits from parents to children through the shared sets of genomes.
Concordance
The likelihood that two individuals share a similar characteristic.
Family Studies
Analysis of how characteristics are distributed in intact families. Useful in estimating risk of disorder among the relatives, cannot infer heritability and cannot be generalized outside of the family.
Twin Studies
Comparing traits between monozygotic and dizygotic twins too see which traits rely more heavily on genes rather than environment, under the assumption that the twins share nearly identical environments, and so the variability between them caused by environment will be almost zero. Cannot establish causation.
Adoption Studies
Analysis of how traits vary between individuals that have been raised sperate from their biological parents.
Compares Similarities to Bio parents and to adopt parents.
Similarity with Bio parents are assumed to be genetic.
Similarity with Adopt Parents are assumed to be environmental.
Adoption Studies Problem
Selective Placement by adoption agencies to place children in a familiar environment.
Nurture vs nature
is false because everything requires a mix of both, with environment changing how genes are expressed.
Reaction Range
The range at which a genetic basis for a trait can be influenced by the environment.
Evolutionary Psychology
The application of darwins theory of evolution in the psychological context, criticised for being a catch all and unfalsifiable, while also having multiple possible viable hypothesis.
Sensation
The process of sensory neurons transducing a stimuli into an electrical impulse.
Perception
The interpretation of the electrical impulse by the brain.
Transduction
The process of converting external energy into electrical nerve impulses.
Sense Receptor
Specialized cell that is able to transduce a sense.
Sensory Adaptation
A greater exposure to a stimulus results in a decreased sensory signal over time.
Psychophysics
The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics
Absolute Threshhold
The lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change.
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
the smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect
JND formula
K*I, K = constant, I = intensity
Signal Detection Theory
Theory involving how stimuli are detected under different conditions involves false positive and false negatives and their inverses. Increased sensitivity to the signal causes hits and correct rejections (accurate responses). Decreased sensitivity causes more misses and false alarms.
Measurement of differences in sensitivity
Measured in D’
ROC Curve
Graph of hits relative to false alarms. More of an upward curve represents a more accurate relation.
Signal-to-noise ratio
The ratio of the power of the signal relative to the strength of the background noise.
SNR formula
strength of signal over strength of background noise.
D’
measure of a stimulus’ salience, increases represent improved detection plotted using ROC curves
