Chapter 2 - Evolution, Genetics, and Experience Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Cartesian dualism

A

The philosophical position of René Descartes, who argued that the universe is composed of two elements: physical matter and the human mind

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

Nature-nurture issue

A

The debate about the relative contributions of nature (genes) and nurture (experience) to the behavioral capacities of individuals

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

Ethology

A

The study of the behavior of animals in their natural environments

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

Instinctive behaviors

A

Behaviors that occur in all like members of a species, even when there seems to have been no opportunity for them to have been learned

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

Asomatognosia

A

A deficiency in the awarenesss of parts of one’s own body that is typically produced by damage to the right parietal lobe

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

Evolve

A

To undergo gradual orderly change

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

Natural selection

A

The idea that those heritable traits that are associated with high rates of survival and reproduction are the most likely to be passed on to future generations

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

Fitness

A

According to Darwin, the ability of an organism to survive and contrivute its genes to the next generation

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

Species

A

A group of organisms that is reproductively isolated from other organisms; the members of one species cannot produce fertile offspring by mating with members of other species

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

Conspecifics

A

Members of the same species

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

Chordates

A

Animals with dorsal nerve cords (e.g. humans, monkeys, kangaroos)

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

Vertebrates

A

Chordates that possess spinal bones

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

Amphibians

A

Species that must live in water during their larval phase; adult amphibians can survive on land

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

Mammals

A

A class of animals whose young are fed from mammary glands

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

Primates

A

One of 20 different orders of mammals; there about a dozen families of primates

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

Hominins

A

Primates of the same group that includes humans

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Spandrels

A

Incidental nonadaptive evolutionary by-products of some adaptive characteristic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Exaptation

A

A characteristic that evolved to serve one function and was later co-opted to serve another function

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Homologous

A

Having a similar structure because of a common evolutionary origin (e.g., a human’s arm and a bird’s wing are homologous)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Analogous

A

Having a similar structure because of a common evolutionary origin (e.g., a human’s arm and a bird’s wing are homologous)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Convergent evolution

A

The evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Brain stem

A

The part of the brain on which the cerebral hemispheres rest; in general, it regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival (e.g., heart rate and respiration)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Cerebrum

A

The portion of the brain that sits above the brain stem; in general, it plays a role in complex adaptive processes (e.g., learning, perception, and motivation)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Convolutions

A

Folds on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Dichotomous traits

A

Traits that occur in one form or the other, never in combination

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

True-breeding lines

A

Breeding lines in which interbred members always produce offspring with the same trait, generation after generation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Dominant trait

A

The trait of a dichotomous pair that is expressed in the phenotypes of heterozygous individuals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Recessive trait

A

The trait of a dichotomous pair that is expressed in the phenotypes of heterozygous individuals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Phenotype

A

An organism’s observable traits

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Genotype

A

The traits that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genetic material

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Gene

A

A unit of inheritance; for example the section of a chromosome that controls the synthesis of one protein

32
Q

Alleles

A

The two genes that control the same trait

33
Q

Homozygous

A

Possessing two identical genes for a particular trait

34
Q

Heterozygous

A

Possessing two different genes for a particlar trait

35
Q

Chromosomes

A

Threadlike structures in the cell necules that contain the genes; each chromosomes is a DNA molecule

36
Q

Gametes

A

Egg cells and sperm cells

37
Q

Meiosis

A

The process of cell division that produces cells (e.g. egg and sperm cells) with half the chromosomes of the parent cell

38
Q

Zygote

A

The cell formed fromthe amalgamation (combination) of a sperm cell and an ovum

39
Q

Genetic recombination

A

The meiotic process by which pairs of chromosomes cross over one another at random points, break apart, and exchange genes

40
Q

Mitosis

A

The process of cell divisoin that produces cells with the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell

41
Q

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

A

The double-stranded, coiled molecule of genetic material

42
Q

Nucleotide bases

A

A class of chemical substances that includes adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine - constituents of DNA

43
Q

Replication

A

The process by which the DNA molecule duplicates itself

44
Q

Mutations

A

Accidental alterations in individual genes

45
Q

Autosomal chromosomes

A

Chromosomes that come in matched pairs; in mammals, all of the chromosomes except the sex chromosomes are autosomal

46
Q

Sex chromosomes

A

The pair of chromosomes that determine an individual’s genetic sex: XX for a female and XY for a male

47
Q

Sex-linked traits

A

Traits that are influenced by genes on the sec chromosomes

48
Q

Proteins

A

Long chains of amino acids

49
Q

Amino acids

A

The building blocks of proteins

50
Q

Promoters

A

Stretches of DNA whose function is to determine whether or not particular structural genes are converted into proteins through the process of gene expression

51
Q

Gene expression

A

The production of the protein specified by a particular gene

52
Q

Activators

A

Proteins that bind to DNA and increase gene expression

53
Q

Repressors

A

Proteins that bind to DNA and decrease gene expression

54
Q

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

A

A molecule that is similar to DNA except that it has the nucleotide base uracil and a phosphate and ribose backbone

55
Q

Messenger RNA

A

A strand of RNA that is transcribed from DNA and then moves out of the cell nucleus where it is translated into a protein

56
Q

Translation

A

The second phase of gene expression, wherein the strand of messenger RNA (mRNA) is converted by a ribosome and transfer RNA (tRNA) into a protein

57
Q

Ribosome

A

Intracellular structures found in large numbers in the cytoplasm of living cells. They are involved in the translation phase of gene expression

58
Q

Codon

A

A group of three consecutive nucleotide bases on a DNA or messenger RNA strand; each codon specifies the particular amino acid that is to be added to an amino acid chain during protein synthesis

59
Q

Transer RNA

A

Molecules of RNA that carry amino acids to ribosomes during protein synthesis; each kind of amino acid is carried by a different kind of transfer RNA molecule

60
Q

Human Genome Project

A

The international research effort to construct a detailed map of the human chromosomes

61
Q

Human proteome

A

A map of the entire set of proteins encoded for by human genes

62
Q

Epigenetics

A

The study of all mechanisms of inheritance other than the genetic code and its expression

63
Q

DNA methylation

A

An epigenetic mechanism wherein a methyl group attaches to a DNA molecule, usually at cytosine sites in mammals. DNA methylation can either decrease or increase gene expression

64
Q

Histone remodeling

A

An epigenetic mechanism wherein histones change their shape and in so doing influence the shape of the adjacent DNA. This can either increase or decrease gene expression,

65
Q

Histone

A

A protein around which DNA is coiled

66
Q

Epigenome

A

A catalogue of all the epigenetic mechanisms at play within a particular cell type

67
Q

Epitranscriptome

A

Refers to all those modifications of RNA that occur after transcription—that do not involve modifications to the RNA base sequence

68
Q

Transgenerational epigentics

A

A subfield of epigenetics that examines the transmission of experiences via epigenetic mechanisms across generations

69
Q

Ontogeny

A

The development of individuals over their life span

70
Q

Phylogeny

A

The evolutionary development of species

71
Q

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

A

A neurological disorder whose symptoms are vomiting, seizures, hyperactivity, hyperirritability, intellectual disability, brain damage, and high levels of phenylpyruvic acid in the urine

72
Q

Phenylpyruvic acid

A

A substance that is found in abnormally high concentrations in the urine of those suffering from phenylketonuria

73
Q

Sensitive period

A

An interval of time during development when an experience can have a greater effect on development if it occurs during that interval, as opposed to outside that interval

74
Q

Monozygotic twins

A

Twins that develop from the same zygote and are thus genetically identical

75
Q

Dizygotic twins

A

Twins that develop from two zygotes and thus tend to be as genetically similar as any pair of siblings

76
Q

Heritability estimate?

A

A numerical estimate of the proportion of variability that occurred in a particular trait in a particular study and that resulted from the genetic variation among the subjects in that study