homework 6

Question 1

According to the assigned Newsweek article, which disease that can be aided by vaccines made a comeback in the US in 2014?

Answer 1

Measles

Question 2

Among studies estimating the heritability of autism, estimates are:

Answer 2

Mixed, showing both low and high heritability

Question 3

According to the videos, why is vaccination to the threshold of herd immunity important?

Answer 3

• Although a vaccine may not be 100% effective at the individual-level, vaccination at the population-level can provide near complete protection against infection.
• Infants cannot be vaccinated since leftover antibodies inherited during pregnancy will attack the vaccine, rendering it useless.
• Immunocompromised adults have a less effective ability to produce antibodies.

Question 4

According to the lecture video, why aren’t infants vaccinated?

Answer 4

Because they aren’t able to make use of them due to antibodies inherited during pregnancy

Question 5

In the Gerber & Offit (2009) article, what is one reason that mercury poisoning from thimerosal as a cause of autism is biologically implausible?

Answer 5

The signs and symptoms of autism are distinct from those of mercury poisoning.

Question 6

According to the Gerber & Offit (2009) article, which of the following are associated with the genes connected to autism spectrum disorder?

Answer 6

Proteins that affect neural activity

Question 7

In a recent study conducted at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, researchers scanned the brains of 106 infants at the ages of 6, 12, and 24 months and found that infants later diagnosed with autism typically had _________ brains compared to infants who did not receive a diagnosis.

Answer 7

significantly larger

Question 8

What is a main difference between the DSM-5 and DSM-4 definitions of autism?

Answer 8

DSM-5 refers to autism as a spectrum, DSM-4 refers to autism as a category

Question 9

According to the videos, how much does California spend per year helping educate students with disabilities?

Answer 9

8-10 billion

Question 10

How many children were included in the Wakefield et. al study?

Answer 10

12

Question 11

The concordance rate of autism is ____ for dizygotic twins than for non-twin siblings:

Answer 11

higher

Question 12

t/f: Researchers all agree about what it means to be psychologically healthy

Answer 12

false

Question 13

Which of the following funding models creates an incentive for parents and schools to seek diagnoses of autism?

Answer 13

cost-based funding

Question 14

When a pathogen is introduced to a 50% unvaccinated group of people:

Answer 14

Unvaccinated people will still be almost as likely to get the disease as when no-one is vaccinated

Question 15

What were the major ethical concerns about Andrew Wakefield’s research that eventually led to the removal of his medical license?

Answer 15

• collected blood samples at a party without ethical approval
• failed to disclose that he received compensation to act as a legal consultant representing parents who believed their children’s autism was caused by vaccination
• treated children with his own experimental drug without ethical approval
• conducted medical tests on autistic children without ethical approval
• failed to disclose that he had filed a patent for his own vaccine