L4/CH6/CH8

Question 1

Nature vs nurture debate

Answer 1

whether genes or environment are more important in accounting for differences in a trait within the population (not an individual)

Question 2

Heritability

Answer 2

proportion of observed variance in a group of individuals that can be explained or accounted for by genetic variance

Question 3

3 characteristics of heritability

Answer 3

cannot be applied to an individual; not constant or absolute; not a precise statistic

Question 4

Environmentality

Answer 4

proportion of observed variance in a group of individuals attributable to environmental variance

Question 5

Twin studies

Answer 5

estimates heritability by gauging whether identical or MZ twins are more similar than fraternal or DZ twins

Question 6

2 assumptions made in twin studies

Answer 6

equal environments and representativeness

Question 7

Representativeness assumption

Answer 7

findings from twin research can be generalized to non-twin individuals

Question 8

Adoption studies

Answer 8

correlations of adopted children with genetic parents give evidence of genetic influence while correlation with adoptive parents give evidence of environmental influence

Question 9

Major strength of adoption studies

Answer 9

genetic parents provide no environmental influence so genes and environment aren’t confounding

Question 10

Limitation of adoption studies

Answer 10

possible selective placement of adopted children with similar characteristics to the adoptive parents

Question 11

Shared environmental effects

Answer 11

family and environmental influences that affect twins or siblings similarly

Question 12

Non-shared environmental effects

Answer 12

family and environmental influences that affect twins or siblings differently

Question 13

Aspects of a person a shared environment influences

Answer 13

attitudes, religious beliefs, political orientation, health behaviors (e.g. smoking and drinking tendencies)

Question 14

3 types of interactions between genes and environment

Answer 14

genotype-environment interaction, genotype-environment correlation, epigenetics

Question 15

Genotype-environment interaction

Answer 15

environment has a different impact depending on an individual’s genotype (e.g. abused children with low MAOA become antisocial and violent)

Question 16

Genotype-environment correlation

Answer 16

exposure to environmental conditions depends on genotype

Question 17

3 kinds of genotype-environment correlations

Answer 17

passive, reactive, and active

Question 18

Passive genotype-environment correlation

Answer 18

the child is responsive to the environment provided by their parents based on their genes (i.e. parents provide both genes and environment to the children who did nothing to obtain that environment)

Question 19

Reactive genotype-environment correlation

Answer 19

heritable behavior evokes different environmental/social responses

Question 20

Active genotype-environment correlation

Answer 20

heritable propensity to select the kind of environment one exponses oneself to

Question 21

Epigenetics

Answer 21

the study of changes in organisms caused by changes in gene expression due to environmental influences (i.e. how nurture shapes nature)

Question 22

Behaviors with epigenetic effects

Answer 22

risk-taking behavior, anxiety, stress reactivity, sociability

Question 23

2 candidate genes with direct links to personality

Answer 23

dopamine receptor gene DRD4 and serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR

Question 24

Behaviors linked to DRD4 gene

Answer 24

novelty-seeking and extraversion

Question 25

Behaviors linked to 5-HTTLPR gene

Answer 25

neuroticism (associated with 9-level loci) and other depressive and anxiety-related traits

Question 26

How can genes affect likelihood of divorce?

Answer 26

genes > neurotransmitters, hormones, physiological arousal > thoughts, feelings, behaviors over time > form traits that influence relationship

Question 27

5 core personality traits found in chimpanzees

Answer 27

reactivity/undependability, dominance, openness, extraversion, agreeableness

Question 28

2 major accomplishments of our ancestors that led to evolution

Answer 28

they survived to reproductive age and they reproduced

Question 29

What 2 behaviors did our evolutionary success depend on?

Answer 29

getting ahead (agency) and getting along (communion)

Question 30

2 goals people had to fulfill across time and culture

Answer 30

to engage with others THEN to pursue personal goals and distinctiveness

Question 31

2 levels of analysis from an evolutionary perspective

Answer 31

human nature; individual and group differences

Question 32

Human nature

Answer 32

a product of evolutionary processes: psychological mechanisms and traits that spread through the population and came to characterize all humans

Question 33

4 traits that comprise human nature

Answer 33

the need to belong, empathy, helping/altruism, universal emotions

Question 34

Adaptive functions of belonging in a group

Answer 34

resources (e.g. food), protection, and having a concentration of mates

Question 35

Evolutionary benefits of empathy

Answer 35

social cohesion and cooperation

Question 36

How does helping enhance the inclusive fitness of helpers?

Answer 36

helping others (typically those closely related like siblings) increases the their likelihood of survival and reproductive success

Question 37

When do emotions have an evolutionary basis?

Answer 37

when they are shared by all members of a species

Question 38

2 evolutionary functions of emotions

Answer 38

serve as adaptive psychosocial mechanisms that signal other individuals and can be used to manipulate others

Question 39

What are the only primates that engage in lethal aggression and warfare?

Answer 39

humans and chimpanzees (due to low expression of ADRA2C gene which inhibits fight or flight)

Question 40

4 leading explanations for the maintenance of individual differences over time

Answer 40

environmental triggers of differences, frequency-dependent selection of traits, contingencies among traits, optimal variance over time and space

Question 41

Environmental triggers of differences

Answer 41

individual differences result from environmental differences acting on species-typical psychological mechanisms

Question 42

Contingencies among traits

Answer 42

individual differences result from contingencies among traits (e.g. certain physical traits may make the expression of certain psychological traits more or less adaptive)

Question 43

Frequency-dependent selection

Answer 43

reproductive success of a trait depends on its frequency relative to that of other traits in a population (e.g. more common = less competitive advantage)

Question 44

Optimal variance over time and space

Answer 44

different levels of a trait are optimally adaptive in different environmental conditions over time

Question 45

Balancing selection

Answer 45

recognition that the variability of a trait within a population is maintained on a genetic level (because no trait is adaptive across all environmental conditions)