Module 1.1: Interaction of Heredity & Environment

Question 1

What is another word for heredity?

Answer 1

Nature

Question 2

What does heredity refer to?

Answer 2

Heredity refers to genetic or predisposed characteristics that influence physical, behavioral, and mental traits and processes

Question 3

What is another word for environmental factors?

Answer 3

Nurture

Question 4

What do environmental factors refer to?

Answer 4

They refer to the external factors that one experiences, such as family interactions or education

Question 5

What is the conclusion that the nature vs nurture debate has reached today?

Answer 5

Today, it is believed that all traits and skills are the result of the interaction between heredity and environmental factors.

Question 6

What is the genome?

Answer 6

It is the set of complete instructions that make a human, containing all their genes

Question 7

Where is the genome found?

Answer 7

It is found in the nucleus of the human cell

Question 8

How many chromosomes are found in the human nucleus?

Answer 8

46 total - 23 from each parent

Question 9

Why is a child’s sex determined by their father?

Answer 9

Because the male carries both an X and Y chromosome, while the female carries 2 X chromosomes.

Question 10

Where are genes located?

Answer 10

Chromosomes in the nucleus are made up of DNA, and segments of DNA consist of genes

Question 11

Why are genes important?

Answer 11

They consist of instructions for making proteins that determine our traits

Question 12

Are all our genes always activated?

Answer 12

No; some genes are always “on” while others are triggered by factors in the environment

Question 13

What do evolutionary psychologists believe about trait inheritance?

Answer 13

They believe organisms inherit genes that help them survive and increase their chances of spreading their genes through reproduction

Question 14

What motives are believed to underlie all behavior?

Answer 14

Survival and reproduction

Question 15

What did Charles Darwin theorize?

Answer 15

That organisms inherit traits from their ancestors’ genes

Question 16

What are mutations and why are they important?

Answer 16

Mutations are random mistakes in gene replication, and they are important because they may help organisms adapt to a particular setting

Question 17

What is natural selection?

Answer 17

The likelihood that organisms’ adaptive genes are passed to their offspring, due to a longer life span and increased reproduction

Question 18

What is evolution?

Answer 18

When the genome of a population is altered, causing mental and behavioral changes for members of the group

Question 19

What was Galton the first to do?

Answer 19

Try to objectively study intelligence

Question 20

What did Galton believe about intelligence?

Answer 20

He believed it was innate (inborn) and coined the term “eugenics”

Question 21

What is the meaning of eugenics?

Answer 21

The belief that “superior” individuals should procreate to genetically “improve” the human species

Question 22

What did Galton believe about intelligence and immigrants?

Answer 22

He believed intelligence test scores identified genetically “inferior” immigrants. He argued immigrants should be kept out of England and/or sterilized

Question 23

What happened as a result of eugenics spreading globally in the 1920s?

Answer 23

Thousands of women were sterilized without their consent in the US until the 1970s, and Asian immigration was banned.

Question 24

What does behavior genetics study?

Answer 24

It studies human differences, seeking genetic and environmental causes

Question 25

Who does behavior genetics study?

Answer 25

1. Monozygotic, genetically identical twins raised together OR raised apart
2. dizygotic, fraternal twins
3. adopted children from different biological parents

Question 26

What is the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic?

Answer 26

Monozygotic means “identical” twins from 1 egg, while dizygotic means “fraternal” twins from 2 separate eggs.

Question 27

What is the difference between identical and fraternal twins?

Answer 27

Fraternal twins share 50% of their genes; they are NOT genetically more similar than any other siblings

Question 28

What did behavior genetics research find?

Answer 28

• Identical twins are more likely to share personality traits (even when raised apart) than fraternal twins or siblings in an adoptive family with different parents
• Adopted children who are environmental (not genetic) relatives tend to share the same political views, values, manners, attitudes, education, and religious faith

Question 29

Why do psychologists use twins to study the genetic causes of human behavior?

Answer 29

If monozygotic twin sets share more similarity in a trait than dizygotic twins, the trait has a genetic component

Question 30

Why do psychologists study adopted children to study genetics?

Answer 30

Children and their adoptive parents tend to have similar attitudes, values, manners, and political and religious beliefs - all of which are unrelated to heredity. Therefore, parenting (environmental factor) does matter

Question 31

How do nature and nurture interact?

Answer 31

Genetic traits trigger responses from the environment that can affect gene activity

Question 32

What is diathesis?

Answer 32

A genetic predisposition

Question 33

How can diathesis and environment interact?

Answer 33

A genetic predisposition for a child’s hyperactivity may evoke an angry response from parents, triggering the child’s genes to release less of a neurotransmitter such as serotonin

Question 34

What is epigenetics?

Answer 34

The study of environmental influences on gene expression occurring without DNA change - how an individual’s lifestyle, environment, choices, etc. can directly interact with the genome

Question 35

What are epigenetic marks?

Answer 35

They are chemical modifications that occur on the DNA or on proteins associated with DNA - do NOT alter the genetic code itself, but influence how genes are turned on or off

Question 36

How early on can life experiences lay down epigenetic marks?

Answer 36

As early as the womb

Question 37

What are methyl groups?

Answer 37

organic molecules containing carbon and hydrogen

Question 38

What is DNA methylation?

Answer 38

is the addition of methyl groups to the DNA - a common type of epigenetic mark