Week2 EVOLUTION

Question 1

What is Evolution

Answer 1

A gradual change over time in organic life from one form to another

Question 2

What is natural selection

Answer 2

Characteristics that increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction within a particular environment, will be more likely to be preserved in the population, therefore becoming more common in the species over time

Question 3

What is mutation

Answer 3

Random events and ‘accidents’ in gene reproduction during cell division

Question 4

What are adaptations?

Answer 4

Physical or behavioural changes that allows organisms to meet recurring environmental challenges to their survival, thereby increasing their reproductive ability

Question 5

What is inheritance?

Answer 5

How traits/tendencies are transmitted from one generation to the next

Question 6

What are alleles

Answer 6

Alternative forms of a gene that produce different characteristics

Question 7

If an allele received from one parent is recessive, the characteristic will only be displayed if the other parent

Answer 7

Also contributes a recessive allele

Question 8

What is genotype?

Answer 8

The specific and complete genetic make-up of an individual

Question 9

What is phenotype?

Answer 9

The individual’s overt observable characteristics

Question 10

Phenotype is produced the interaction between the genotype and the environment, but differences are limited by?

Answer 10

Genotype

Question 11

Genotype determines

Answer 11

How much the environment can influence an organism’s development and behaviour

Question 12

Identical twins share the same

Answer 12

Genotype

Question 13

Genes are

Answer 13

Functional segments of DNA that codes for a protein

Question 14

The human genome consists of around ______ genes

Answer 14

20,000

Question 15

Chromosomes are

Answer 15

Single or double stranded and tightly coiled molecules of DNA and proteins

Question 16

Two exceptions in the human body that don’t have 46 chromosomes

Answer 16

Reproductive cells with 23 and red blood cell without a nucleus

Question 17

Eye colour is an example of ________ transmission that one gene pair= single phenotypic trait

Answer 17

Monogenic

Question 18

In many cases are number of Jean pass, combine influences to create a single phenotypic traits, this shows ____________ transmission

Answer 18

Polygenic

Question 19

What is behaviourism?(1930-1950)

Answer 19

Assumed that there are laws of learning that apply to virtually all organisms
-Organism is initially a tabula rasa/ ‘blank state’ on which experiences are written

Question 20

What is ethology and its focus?

Answer 20

The study of animal behaviour
Focus on the evolutionary differences between species

Question 21

What are inherited behavioural adaptations? An example?

Answer 21

Traits organisms are born with that help promote chances of survival/reproductive success
Example: A fixed-action pattern: an unlearned behaviour automatically triggered by a particular stimulus
Such as goose: egg retrieval action

Question 22

What is behavioural genetics?

Answer 22

The study of how heredity and environmental factors influence psychological characteristics
It tries to explain why people differ

Question 23

Two key concepts of behavioural genetics?

Answer 23

1. Degree of relatedness (number of genes shared )
2. Concordance/co-occurrence (probability of shared genes will share a particular trait)

Question 24

What are shared environments?

Answer 24

Environments in which its members experience many common features

Question 25

What are non-shared environments

Answer 25

Experiences that are unique

Question 26

What are absorption studies

Answer 26

Adopted people are compared to both their biological and adopted parents

Question 27

What are twin studies? And how are they useful?

Answer 27

Comparing trait similarities in identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins
They are useful when estimating the extent to which three factors (genotype, shared environment and non-shared environment) contributed to group variance for particular trait

Question 28

What is heritability?

Answer 28

It estimates genetic influence
Scale: 0-1.00
It is a statistical estimate of the extent to which variation in a specific characteristics within a group of people can be attributed to their differing genes

Question 29

Some characteristics with high heritability?

Answer 29

Height and weight

Question 30

Genes and environment are not really separate determinants of behaviour and they function as

Answer 30

A single, integrated system

Question 31

Gene expression is influenced by the

Answer 31

Environment

Question 32

Genes are most likely to provide us with a

Answer 32

Disposition towards a behaviour

Question 33

What is reaction range?

Answer 33

The range of possibilities(upper/lower)
that a genetic code allows

Question 34

What is evolutionary psychology?

Answer 34

It seems to explain how evolution shapes modern human behaviour by considering species characteristics more generally

Question 35

What is kin selection?

Answer 35

An evolutionary strategy in which behaviours are selected that favour the reproductive success of an organism’s relatives, even if at cost to organism itself

Question 36

What is reciprocal altruism?

Answer 36

Behaviour in organism that reduces its fitness to survive/reproduce while increasing another organism’s fitness

Question 37

Some examples of culturally universal characteristics?

Answer 37

1. Infants are born with the ability to acquire any language.
2. Newborns are able to proceed specific stimuli (facial perception) without any experience of them ( some even showed preference for faces)
   3 basic emotions seem to be universally recognised