The developing brain Flashcards

1
Q

The extent to which cognition and behavior can be attributed to genes or environment

A

Nature-Nurture debate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

A process of interaction between environment and brain-based constraints that leads to the mature cognitive system emerging out of transformations of earlier ones (but does not assume discrete stages)

A

Neuroconstructivism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

The embryo’s precursor to the central nervous system, consisting of a set of cells arranged in a hollow cylinder

A

Neural tube

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Stem cells for neurons

A

Neuroblasts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Support cells that guide neurons from the neural tube to their final destination

A

Radial glial cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Strengthening of a synapse that occurs when the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons are active at the same time (“what wires together fires together”

A

Hebbian learning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

An increase in the fatty sheath that surrounds axons and increases the speed of information transmission

A

Myelination

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

The brain’s ability to change as a result of experience

A

Plasticity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

The idea that the earlier brain damage is sustained, the better the function outcome

A

Kennard Principle

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

The process by which a young animal comes to recognize the parent

A

Filial imprinting

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

A time window in which appropriate environmental input is essential for learning to take place

A

Critical period

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

A time window in which appropriate environmental input is particularly important (but not necessarily essential) for learning to take place

A

Sensitive period

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

In philosophy, the view that the newborn mind is a blank slate

A

Empiricism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

In philosophy, the view that at least some forms of knowledge are innate

A

Nativism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

A behavior that is a product of natural selection

A

Instinct

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

The theory that common phobias are biologically determined from evolutionary pressures

A

Prepared learning

17
Q

A field concerned with studying the inheritance of behavior and cognition

A

Behavioral genetics

18
Q

An organized package of DNA bound up with proteins; each one containing many genes

A

Chromosome

19
Q

Different versions of the same gene

A

Alleles

20
Q

Genetically identical twins caused when a fertilized egg splits in two

A

Monozygotic twins

21
Q

Twins who sare half of their genes, caused when two eggs are fertilized by two different sperm

A

Dizygotic

22
Q

The proportion of variance in a trait in a given population that can be accounted for by genetic differences among individuals

A

Heritability

23
Q

The proportion of variance in a trait in a given population that can be accounted for by events that happen to one twin but not the other, or events that affect them in different ways

A

Unshared environment

24
Q

The proportion of variance in a trait in a given population that can be accounted for by events that happen to both twins, affecting them in the same way

A

Shared environment

25
Q

An analysis approach in which different genotypes (ex: different alleles) are used to explore for phenotypic variation

A

Genotype-first

25
Q

An analysis approach in which different phenotypes are used to explore genetic differences

A

Phenotype-first

26
Q

A phenotype-first approach in which the presence/absence, or continuous variation, in a trait is linked to variations at many different sites in the genetic code

A

Genome-wide association study (GWAS)

27
Q

An impaired ability to perform the coordinated movements that are required for speech

A

Orofacial dyspraxia

28
Q

A gene product that affects the function of other genes

A

Transcription factor

29
Q

Genetic influences in people’s exposure to different environments

A

Gene-environment correlations

30
Q

Susceptibility to a trait depends on a particular combination of a gene and environment

A

Gene X environment interactions