Lecture 20: Human Genetic Variation Flashcards
What are examples of biological demographic variables in psychological research?
Age, developmental/reproductive stage, health, ability, addiction, sex/gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity.
What are examples of non-biological demographic variables?
Occupation, work status, leadership, socio-economic status, immigration status, education, family, political views, religion.
What is the traditional reproductive binary in biology?
XX = female, XY = male; categorised by chromosomal sex and reproductive roles (egg/sperm parent).
Give two examples of sex chromosome anomalies.
Klinefelter syndrome (XXY), Turner syndrome (missing or partial X chromosome), Triple X syndrome (XXX).
What is intersex?
A condition involving atypical development of sexual organs, despite typical sex chromosomes (XX or XY).
Why is relying solely on the reproductive binary problematic in research?
It overlooks environmental and social factors influencing gender identity and behaviour.
Why is the validity of IQ tests debated?
Because IQ scores can improve with training, and they don’t fully capture intelligence as defined by alternative theories.
What is the “g” factor?
A statistical general intelligence score derived from correlated task performance.
According to meta-analyses, what explains most variance in school attainment between boys and girls?
Environment, parental education, and school type—not biological sex/gender.
What does the Gender Similarity Hypothesis state?
That men and women are more alike than different in most psychological traits and abilities.
Why must researchers collect demographic data?
To assess selection bias, contextualise findings, and perform subgroup comparisons.
What are ethical responsibilities in research involving human participants?
Gaining informed consent for collecting, storing, analysing, and sharing personal data.
Who coined the term “eugenics”?
Francis Galton in 1883.
What’s the danger of Social Darwinism?
It wrongly applies evolutionary theory to justify social inequality and selective breeding.
What does “scientific racism” refer to?
Misuse of genetics to claim superiority of certain races; rooted in eugenics and discredited theories.
What was one consequence of shrinking body sizes during the Industrial Revolution?
Sparked research into genetic vs. environmental causes of physical traits like height.
What is anthropometry?
Measuring human body, head, and face to study variation (historically misused in race science).
Is height a polygenic trait?
Yes, it is influenced by many genes and environmental factors.
What is a SNP?
A Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism; a variation at a single position in DNA among individuals.
What causes genetic variation?
Mutations, environmental effects on DNA, recombination during egg/sperm production.
What’s the problem with the nature vs. nurture dichotomy?
It oversimplifies development; genes and environment interact continuously.
What was the goal of the Human Genome Project (HGP)?
To completely map all the genes in human beings.
When was the HGP active, and when did the full sequence become available?
Active from 1984–2004; full sequence became available between 2001–2004.
What were the Bermuda Principles established by the HGP?
All human genome sequences should be made publicly available within 24 hours, with no delays or exceptions.
