week 2

Question 1

question: what was found by Jorde (2004) about genes and race?

Answer 1

• indiv. from diff. continents are more similar than indiv. from same continent
• suggests race is less biological and more socially constructed based on visual similarities

Question 2

question: why might sickle cell anemia but good vs bad?

Answer 2

GOOD
- protective trait against malaria
- het. indiv. for sickle cell anemia has higher survival rates
⤷ only in areas of higher risk malaria
- no benefit in areas with lower risk

BAD
- sickle shape = harder to pass capillaries -> blocks WBC passage

Question 3

explain: sickle cell anemia and down syndrome (gene-wise)

Answer 3

SICKLE
- recessive
- het. indiv. usually asymptomatic

DOWN
- trisomy 21
- mental and motor delays

Question 4

define: evolution

Answer 4

• process of change in gene freq. over many generation
• proposed by Darwin in 1859

Question 5

define: nat. sel.

Answer 5

• envrt. conditions allow some members of a species to survive and pass on their genes to progeny while others do not

Question 6

explain: peppered moths as an ex. of nat. sel.

Answer 6

• pre-industrial rev. = mostly white
• post-industrial rev/ = mostly black
• caused by diff. alleles -> diff. pheno.

**white moths did not become black
⤷ black moths survived in the ashy trees so they were able to pass on their genes

Question 7

question: what are conditions for evolution to be considered evolution?

Answer 7

• trait affects survival
• affects on a population scale, not indiv.
• hereditary

Question 8

question: what is the false assumption surrounding genes and envrt.?

Answer 8

FALSE = genes selected by evol. pressies depend on the envrt. in which ancestors were living

• in reality: envrt. controls gene exp.

Question 9

define: polygenic inheritance

Answer 9

• activity of many genes influencing one trait
• case for most psychological traits
• leads to normal distribution on graph

Question 10

explain: evolutionary theory in dev.

Answer 10

• the selected traits may be maximally adaptive at that certain stage of dev.
• ex.
  ⤷ infants: poor vis. acuity
  ⤷ toddlers: increased clinginess
  ⤷ adolescence: risk-taking
• don’t want infants with too many presets or else wouldn’t be plastic enough to change and survive
  ⤷ also want them to be useless so parents take care of infant
• puberty happens in adolescence -> looking for sexual partners
  ⤷ don’t take risks and -> stay close to family -> incest

Question 11

question: what is the relationship between envrt. variability and hereditability?

Answer 11

• greater variability -> less hereditability
• more possibilities for differences in indiv. to be explained by envrt. instead of genes

Question 12

define: epigenesis

Answer 12

• functional change in the genome that does not involve an alteration in DNA seq.

Question 13

explain: good and bad mothering rats

Answer 13

• good = high grooming (HG)
  = bad = low grooming (LG) -> no tactile stim.
• HG have offspring w/ less stress resp. and become HG themselves
• did cross-fostering study
  ⤷ swapped babies
• HG mom’s adopted babies turned out good
• suggests its based on the envrt., not genetics

Question 14

question: what is the genetic mechanism for less stress in HG rat moms?

Answer 14

• methylation
  ⤷ silences gene that creates receptors -> poor stress regulation
• yes methyl = stressed
• no methyl = better stress management

Question 15

question: what was seen genetically between pups of HG and LG rat moms?

Answer 15

• at birth, methylation = equal
• day 6: demethylation occurred in HG pups

Question 16

question: what happened to LG pups that were handled by humans?

Answer 16

• still demethylated
• means any sort of tactile stim. helps demethylate

Question 17

name: types of environment effects on dev. (3)

Answer 17

1. passive
2. evocative
3. active

Question 18

define: types of environment effects on dev. (3)

Answer 18

1. passive
   - parents provide envrt. that impacts dev.
   - ex. born into rich family
2. evocative
   - child elicits resp. from others -> changing their geno. based on envrt. from others
   - ex. always crying -> everyone avoids -> grows up in unhappy envrt.
3. active
   - child’s geno. influences the envrt.s they seek
   - ex. choosing no more soccer
   ⤷ child’s genes (from parents) chose no more soccer

Question 19

question: do babies who were breastfed have higher IQs?

Answer 19

• yes
• has fatty acids that foster brain dev.
• Mortensen 2002

Question 20

question: what was found by Cap (2007) about breastfeeding?

Answer 20

• gene on chromo. in volved in processing fatty acids has 2 alleles C and G
• CC and CG breastfed = higher IQ than bottle fed
• GG breastfed = no diff.

CONCLUSION: not entirely envrt., some genetics

Question 21

define: conduct disorder

Answer 21

• children and adolescents wo consistently break rules or violate the rights of others
• emerge at 8 yrs
• more common in boys

Question 22

name: symptoms of conduct disorder

Answer 22

• difficulty with self regulation
• at risk for dev. antisoc. disorder
• lying
• stealing
• fire-setting
• cruelty to animals
• fighting

Question 23

name: possible causes of conduct disorder

Answer 23

• family stress
• antisocial family members
• inconsistent discipline
• maltreatment
  ⤷ but not all maltreated children had conduct disorder

Question 24

explain: treatment for conduct disorder

Answer 24

• cognitive-behavioural therapy
• important to both face consequences for bad beha. and reward good beha.
• family-oriented treatment = more effective

Question 25

explain: genetic explanation for conduct disorder

Answer 25

- MAOA enzyme deletion increases aggression - altered neurotransmitters = associated with aggression ⤷ and MAOOA metabolizes NT

Question 26

name: steps of brain dev. (5)

Answer 26

1. formation of neural tube 2. neurogenesis 3. migration 4. differentiation + myelination 5. cell and synaptic pruning

Question 27

explain: steps of brain dev. (5)

Answer 27

1. **formation of neural tube** - 18 - 24 days after conception - neural plate folds -> tube - failure to close -> birth defects ex. spina bifida 2. **neurogenesis** - 5 - 28 weeks after conception - neurons form in one region of tube - usually no more new neurons after birth ⤷ except hippocampus 3. **migration** - 7 mths - neurons more to permanent locations via glial cells - faulty migration -> neural disorders ex. epilepsy and cerebral palsy 4. **differentiation + myelination** - neurons get bigger and become specialized fatty sheath protects axons - myelination = from early in infancy -> early adulthood 5. **cell and synaptic pruning** - remove neurons and synapses not being used - increases efficiency

Question 28

define: teratogen

Answer 28

- agent that can potentially cause birth defect or harm to cog./beha. outcomes - dep. on dose, genetic predisposition, time of exposure

Question 29

question: how does time of exposure impact the effect of a teratogen?

Answer 29

- exposed earlier in dev. = more sensitive - not as sensitive at 1 - 2 weeks because not enough has developed yet

Question 30

explain: thalidomide on dev.

Answer 30

- used to be prescribed for morning sickness - found to cause babies with deformities in arms, legs, hands, fingers

Question 31

explain: alcohol on dev.

Answer 31

- can lead of fetal alcohol syndrome ⤷ slow growth, heart problems, characteristic facial features - physical brain damage occurs prenatally ⤷ causes permanent cog. deficits

Question 32

explain: nicotine on dev.

Answer 32

- preterm births and low brth weight - fetal and neonatal deaths - respiratory problems - increased risk for attention and learning deficits later - second hand smoke also has an impact

Question 33

question: what can fetuses hear (prenatal hearing)?

Answer 33

- charlie brown teacher muffly noise - can perceive sound at 16 weeks gestation

Question 34

question: does music and trying to promote bilingualism do anything with a fetus' prenatal hearing?

Answer 34

- not really - enough stim. from stomach to stim. brain dev. - music gets filtered by embryonic fluid ⤷ kinda just becomes rhythm and some pitch changes - hard to hear detailed diff. in languages

Question 35

question: how does having deaf parents impact hearing of child?

Answer 35

- no significant language delay - 5 - 10 hours/week of exposure after birth is still sufficient ⤷ shows that prenatal exp. is not necessary

Question 36

explain: carrot juice vs water study on prenatal tasting`

Answer 36

1 = carrot juice -> switch to water after birth 2 = water -> switch to carrot juice after birth 3 = water before and after birth - infants exposed to carrot juice either prenatally or after birth: ⤷ showed less grimaces when eating carrot cereal - enjoyed carrot cereal more than regular - no diff. in control group