Exam 2-2 Flashcards
gonads
The glands, testes in men and ovaries in women, that (among other effects) produce the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, respectively
cortisol
a collective term for the glucocorticoid hormones, which are released into the bloodstream by the adrenal cortex as a response to physical or psychological stress
BOLD Signal
Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent signal.
Measures brain activity in fMRI by detecting changes in blood oxygen levels. Active brain areas consume more oxygen, increasing oxygenated blood flow. This change reveals neural activity, helping researchers map brain functions.
evolutionary mismatch
the idea that traits that were adaptive in an ancestral environment may be maladaptive in a modern environment
aggression
can help a person to protect territory, property, and mates and also lead to dominance in the social group and higher status. But the same tendency can also lead to fighting, murder, and the industrial-scale murder called war.
altruism
A tendency to aid and protect other people, especially close relatives, might help ensure the survival of one’s own genes into succeeding generations,
inclusive fitness
an explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefit of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than focusing on individual survival
individual differences
variations among people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior
frequency-dependent
They adjust their prevalence according to how common they are in the population at large
reproductive instinct
The idea that people tend to want many offspring is not valid. There are individual differences. Theorists argue that the instinct need not be conscious.
conservative bias
a tendency to favor familiar, existing ideas over new information or changes.
Human flexibility
a general lesson of psychology is that humans are extraordinarily flexible creatures with a minimum of instinctive behavior patterns, compared with other species.
Biological determinism
the idea that human behavior and traits are controlled by genes and biology alone, with little influence from the environment.
personality trait
A pattern of thought, emotion, or behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations
genetic confounding
The possibility that an association between parenting style and child outcomes might be due, instead or in part, to the shared genes of parents and children.
alleles
a particular variant, or form, of a gene; most genes have two or more alleles.
epigenetics
nongenetic influences on a gene’s expression, such as stress, nutrition, and so forth.
Evolutionary Personality Psychology
Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain behavioral patterns by analyzing how they may have promoted survival and reproduction in past generations.
sociometer
according to Mark Leary’s theory, that assesses the degree to which one is accepted by the group. A decline in self-esteem might be an evolved signal that one is in danger of being shunned.
