Chapter 1

Question 1

Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz

Answer 1

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Question 2

Hard Problem

Answer 2

David Chalmers - Given this universe composed of matter and energy, why is there such a thing as consciousness?

Question 3

Mind-Brain/Body Problem

Answer 3

What is the relationship between mental experience and brain activity?

Question 4

fundamental property

Answer 4

Property that cannot be attributed to something else (eg. matter has mass but we cannot explain why)

Question 5

Biological psychology

Answer 5

Study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanism of behavior and experience

Question 6

physiological explanation

Answer 6

relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs - deals with chemistry and machinery of the body “how does this behaviour relate to brain and other organs?”

Question 7

ontogenetic explanation

Answer 7

Describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions “how does this behaviour develop within the individual?”

Question 8

evolutionary explanation

Answer 8

reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior “how did the capacity for this behaviour evolve?”

Question 9

functional explanation

Answer 9

describes why a structure or behavior evolves as it did - why it was evolutionarily selected “why did the capacity for this behaviour evolve? What funciton does it serve?”

Question 10

genetic drift

Answer 10

when a gene spreads by accident in a small, isolated population

Question 11

genes

Answer 11

units of heredity that maintain their structural identity from one generation to another, found on chromosomes (generally paired)

Question 12

chromosomes

Answer 12

strands of genes that come in pairs

Question 13

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Answer 13

genetic material (double stranded)- a strand serves as a template for RNA (single stranded) synthesis. The order of DNA bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine) determines RNA bases.

Question 14

ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Answer 14

RNA bases determine order of amino acides that compose a protein (adenine, guanine, cytosine, uracil)

Question 15

enzymes

Answer 15

biological catalysts that regulate chemical reactions in the body

Question 16

homozygous

Answer 16

identical pair of genes on two chromosomes

Question 17

heterozygous

Answer 17

unmatched pair of genes (i.e. XY)

Question 18

dominant gene

Answer 18

shows a strong effect in either homozygous or heterozygous

Question 19

recessive gene

Answer 19

show its effects only in the homozygous condition

Question 20

Sex linked gene

Answer 20

genes located on the sex chromosome (X or Y )

Question 21

sex limited genes

Answer 21

present in both sexes, generally on autosomal chromosomes, but actively mainly in one sex (genes activated by sex hormones)

Question 22

autosomal genes

Answer 22

a gene located on a chromosome other than a sex chromosome

Question 23

mutation

Answer 23

heritable change in a DNA molecule - changing one base in a DNA sequnce results in code for a different protein

Question 24

epigenetics

Answer 24

change in gene expression without modification of DNA/genetic sequence

Question 25

monozygotic twins

Answer 25

twins from one egg - identical

Question 26

dizygotic

Answer 26

twins from two eggs - fraternal

Question 27

duplication/deletion

Answer 27

in DNA replication, part of a chromosome that should appear once might instead appear twice or not at all (when it is a tiny portion it is a micro duplication/deletion)

Question 28

heritability

Answer 28

measure of how much variations in some characteristics depend on genetic differences - estimates of heritability apply to particular populations at particular times, they are not absolute

Question 29

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Answer 29

- Inability to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine - if untreated, the amino acid accumulates to toxic levels impairing brain development and resulting in restlessness and irritability - effects can be modified with a low phenylalanine diet

Question 30

evolution

Answer 30

change over generations in frequencies of various genes in a population

Question 31

Lamarckian evolution

Answer 31

theory of evolution based on inheritance of acquired characteristics - if you use your arm muscles your children will have larger arm muscles

Question 32

fitness

Answer 32

number of copies of one's genes that endure in later generations

Question 33

evolutionary psychology

Answer 33

study of evolution of behaviours

Question 34

altruistic behavior

Answer 34

action that benefits someone other than the actor

Question 35

kin selection

Answer 35

selection for a gene that benefits the individuals relatives

Question 36

reciprocal altruism

Answer 36

idea that individuals help those who will return the favor

Question 37

group selection

Answer 37

altruistic groups survive better than less cooperative ones