Genes, Environment, and Behaviour Flashcards
Describe how genes link to behaviour and the environment.
Genes form amino acids, amino acids form proteins, proteins form cells and the brain (which effects behaviour), this influences our environment which feedbacks to the brain
Which disease demonstrates how genes influence behaviour? Describe this process.
The Kal-1 gene produces Anosmin. If the gene is faulty, no Anosmin is produced causing faults during embryonic development. This causes adult physiological and behavioural changes to the phenotype.
They have no sense of smell due to lack of olfactory bulbs, and no libido due to small penis and testes
What does it mean if a gene is autosomal recessive?
You need two copies of the gene to develop disorder. 1 copy = carrier
What are the 2 main questions when considering the role of the genotype and environment on behavioural development?
Question 1 is concerned with explaining individual differences in behaviour, question 2 is concerned with explaining the development of behaviour in an individual
Define the term ‘heritablity’
Heritability is how well genetic variation accounts for variation in a phenotypic trait
What is an example of a trait in terms of heritability?
the trait of walking on two legs is due to variation in leg number. This is mostly due to environment e.g. disease or accidents. Variation due to genetic deficits is rare, so heritability of leg number is close to 0
Give an example a mechanism which shows how genes and environment influence behaviour.
The Kal-1 gene is one of many influences on gonads, libido, and smell. There are also environmental influences. But genetic and environmental influences cannot be distinguished from each other
Describe the Caspi et al. (2002) study and the results found.
They conducted a study into the variation of violence in those who have experienced maltreatment in childhood. There is an environmental effect i.e. the maltreatment, but there is also a genotypic influence i.e. MAOA. This makes neurotransmitters inactive and causes aggression. They found that those who had experienced severe maltreatment and had low MAOA displayed the most antisocial behaviour. Low or high MAOA alone had little effect on aggression. Maltreatment alone had a moderate effect on aggression.
Give an example of how genes and environment affect aggression in animals. Is there a problem with the generalisability of these results?
A study was conducted into the aggression levels of monkeys who were either peer raised or raised by their mother. It was found that the peer raised monkeys had low aggression levels and that MAOA had little effect. The mother raised monkeys had higher aggression with lower MAOA levels. These results are difficult to generalise to human populations as aggression is seen as a good thing in monkeys but a bad thing in humans. Also, being reared as a lot different to being raised as a human.
What is the evolutionary perspective on impulsivity.
impulsivity is sensitive to the current state of the organism or developmental history
Define ‘delay discounting’.
choosing smaller, faster rewards over larger, later ones
