Modules 13-15 Vocabulary

Question 1

: the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

Answer 1

Corpus callosum

Question 2

: a conditioning resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them

Answer 2

Split brain

Question 3

: our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Answer 3

Consciousness

Question 4

: the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language)

Answer 4

Cognitive neuroscience

Question 5

:: the principe that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

Answer 5

Dual processing

Question 6

: the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Answer 6

Behavior genetics

Question 7

: every external influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us

Answer 7

Environment

Question 8

: threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain genes

Answer 8

Chromosomes

Question 9

a complex module containing the genetic information that makes up chromosomes

Answer 9

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid):

Question 10

: the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins

Answer 10

Genes

Question 11

: the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism’s chromosomes

Answer 11

Genome

Question 12

twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms

Answer 12

Identical twins (monozygotic twins):

Question 13

): twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment

Answer 13

Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins

Question 14

: the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes

Answer 14

Molecular genetics

Question 15

: the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. This of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studies

Answer 15

Heritability

Question 16

: the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity)

Answer 16

Interaction

Question 17

: the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

Answer 17

Epigenetics

Question 18

: the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Answer 18

Evolutionary psychology

Question 19

: the principles that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction ad survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Answer 19

Natural selection

Question 20

: a random error in gene replication that leads to a change

Answer 20

Mutation