developmental psychology Flashcards
certain cognitive abilities seem to be tied to neural structures:
such as the occipital lobe (vision) or brocas/ wernickes area
cystic fibrosis is…
highly caused by genes
PKU is…
due to an interaction of both genes and the environment
one thing twin studies show is…
how effects of the environment reduce overtime, so personality characteristics shared increases
what is the difference between dizygotic and monozygotic twins?
DZ twins are fraternal (50% of genes shared) and MZ twins are identical (100% shared)
there is a genetic component to activity level in mice. What might this tell us about humans?
that humans also have a genetic factor to activity levels. this is supported by ADHD
give a brief description of the mice test for IQ…
maze running in mice is used to indicate their level of iQ. The mice are selectively bred = dull and bright.
(mice that make more errors and mice that make fewer errors)
how may the results of the Mice IQ test relate to humans?
the results showed how generations of bright mice end up making fewer mistakes than the generations of dull mice
is genetic contribution of IQ the same in humans?
what was Cooper and Zubek’s experiment?
(mice)
mice running a maze - dull and bright mice bought up in standard, impoverished and enriched environments.
what were the results of Cooper and Zubek’s experiment?
genetic inheritance did not matter for the rats raised in an impoverished or enriched environment so this means there was a contribution of both genes and environment to IQ.
bright rats raised in an impoverished environment could not reach their genetic potential.
tell me about the fetal environment…
genetic potential is determined by the parents, but 1 twin may get more nutrition in the womb so they develop more rapidly - but they both have similar genetic potential
does environment contribution to IQ increase with age?
no - it decreases because our parent’s are no longer choosing our environment
what is the present opinion of IQ
seeing as genes are inherited from parents, there is a certain possible range they can attain, but the environment determines where they settle on this range.
what is the contribution of genes/ environment to schizophrenia?
environmental factors (such as prenatal insult, stress etc) can increase the chances of developing schizophrenia - depending on genetic factors (predisposition?)
mothers are more likely to develop schizophrenia soon after birthing a child due to an increase of stress.
what is a teratogen?
an agent that causes deviation in normal development that leads to serious abnormalities or death
