Week 2: Heritability, Reflex & Instinct

Question 1

Automatic behaviours

Answer 1

Involuntary; driven by the autonomic nervous system

Question 2

Reflexes

Answer 2

Simple involuntary responses to stimuli; one stimuli, one response. Almost instantaneous execution time.

Question 3

Instincts

Answer 3

Complex patterns of behaviours; innate & not learned; e.g. turtle knows to go to the water after birth, even though it was born alone and had not learned this complex behaviour

Question 4

Comparative psychology

Answer 4

The study of similarities and differences between animal and human behaviour.

This helps us better understand our behaviour

Question 5

Rooting reflex

Answer 5

When a baby detects something rubbing/stroking its cheek, it will turn its head to face the direction of origination

Question 6

Sucking reflex

Answer 6

When a baby detects something touching the roof of its mouth, it will begin sucking. Example: breast feeding, when the nipple touches the roof of its mouth.

Question 7

Moro reflex

Answer 7

When a baby detects a lack of support, it will reach out its arms, pull them in close, and then begin crying.

Question 8

Palmar Grasp Reflex

Answer 8

When a baby detects something touching the palm of its hand, it will grasp it.

Question 9

Theory

Answer 9

It is a testable explanation for a phenomenon, based on current research.

Question 10

Law

Answer 10

A law is a description of a phenomenon that is reliable under experimentation.

Question 11

Hypothesis

Answer 11

A prediction of a phenomenon that is tested.

Question 12

Selection Pressure

Answer 12

Forces exerted on an organism (or broadly, a population) by the physical or social (reproductive) environment(s) that favour particular characteristic(s)

Question 13

Phenotype

Answer 13

When the environment and the genetics of a population/organism interact, they produce observable properties/characteristics.

Example:
Intelligence, height, muscle mass, skin colour

Question 14

Principles of evolution (4)

Answer 14

1. Organisms reproduce and increase in number
2. Organisms inherit characteristics from their parents, but also randomly mutate (this is called random genetic variation)
3. Features in the environment make some properties more or less helpful in survival and reproduction (selection pressures)
4. Organisms that survive and reproduce pass on features through offspring inheritance of parental attributes (random variation occurs in this genetic passing on to offspring)

Survive, selection, inherit, variation (SSIV)

Question 15

Requirements for Evolution (3)

Answer 15

1. Variable - feature must be variable
2. Heritable - feature must be encoded in genetics, and thus heritable
3. Selection pressure - there must be environmental or sexual selection pressure on the feature(s)

VHS
Variable, heritable, selection pressure