Chapter 6 - Genes, Evolution and Behaviour

Question 1

What is the breakdown of the genetic structure

Answer 1

Genome, Chromosome, Gene, Allele

Question 2

Genotype

Answer 2

An organisms Genetic Makeup

Question 3

Phenotype

Answer 3

A Descriptive measurement of observable traits

Question 4

Dominant Gene

Answer 4

A gene that takes phenotypical priority and masks other genes.

Question 5

Recessive Gene

Answer 5

A gene that is expressed only in the absence of dominant genes.

Question 6

Polygenic Transmission

Answer 6

A single phenotype that is controlled by more than one pair of genes

Question 7

Epigenetics

Answer 7

The study of changes in genes caused by environmental factors (why twins do not share identical Genomes as they age)

Question 8

Darwins Finches

Answer 8

The various types of finches found on the four Galapagos islands leading to the development of the natural selection theory of evolution.

Question 9

Genetic Engineering

Answer 9

The attempt to mold and change genes to fulfil a need or desire. Interference with genetic code.

Question 10

Knockout Procedure

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Knockin Procedure

Answer 11

A Genetic enginerring procedure in which a gene is replaced instead of completely being removed

Question 12

Knockin and Knockout problems

Answer 12

genes can influence more than one behaviour making it difficult to pinpoint an exact relation, and some behaviours are controlled by multiple genes.

Question 13

Heritability

Answer 13

The extent to which variation of a trait is caused by genes and what is caused by environement.

Question 14

Heritability Coefficient

Answer 14

Think of like a correlation coefficient a quantitative measure that expresses the relationship because variation and heritability, cannot be generalized.

Question 15

Heredity

Answer 15

The passing of traits from parents to children through the shared sets of genomes.

Question 16

Concordance

Answer 16

The likelihood that two individuals share a similar characteristic.

Question 17

Family Studies

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Twin Studies

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Adoption Studies

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Adoption Studies Problem

Answer 20

Selective Placement by adoption agencies to place children in a familiar environment.

Question 21

Nurture vs nature

Answer 21

is false because everything requires a mix of both, with environment changing how genes are expressed.

Question 22

Reaction Range

Answer 22

The range at which a genetic basis for a trait can be influenced by the environment.

Question 23

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Sensation

Answer 24

The process of sensory neurons transducing a stimuli into an electrical impulse.

Question 25

Perception

Answer 25

The interpretation of the electrical impulse by the brain.

Question 26

Transduction

Answer 26

The process of converting external energy into electrical nerve impulses.

Question 27

Sense Receptor

Answer 27

Specialized cell that is able to transduce a sense.

Question 28

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 28

A greater exposure to a stimulus results in a decreased sensory signal over time.

Question 29

Psychophysics

Answer 29

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics

Question 30

Absolute Threshhold

Answer 30

The lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change.

Question 31

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Answer 31

the smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

Question 32

JND formula

Answer 32

K*I, K = constant, I = intensity

Question 33

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

Measurement of differences in sensitivity

Answer 34

Measured in D’

Question 35

ROC Curve

Answer 35

Graph of hits relative to false alarms. More of an upward curve represents a more accurate relation.

Question 36

Signal-to-noise ratio

Answer 36

The ratio of the power of the signal relative to the strength of the background noise.

Question 37

SNR formula

Answer 37

strength of signal over strength of background noise.

Question 38

D’

Answer 38

measure of a stimulus’ salience, increases represent improved detection plotted using ROC curves