Exam 3: Genes, Evolution, and Environment

Edward L. Thorndike, one of the leading psychologists of the early 1900s, claimed that in the actual race of life, the chief determining factor is heredity.

Adopted children are studied to investigate heritability because they share an environment with their adoptive parents and siblings, but they don't share their genes.

Evolution is defined as a change of gene frequencies within a population over many generations.

Linkage studies look for patterns of inheritance of genetic markers in large families in which a particular condition is common.

Basic arithmetic skills are either present at birth or develop rapidly during maturation.

For many years, psychologists addressing questions about human differences tended to fall into two camps. Those who emphasized the role of learning and experience in human diversity were called:

Raw scores on IQ tests have ________ in developed countries for the past several decades.

The belief that the twenty-first century will be the "century of the gene" reflects:

________ are rod-shaped paired structures made of DNA that are located in the nucleus of the cell.

According to Chomsky, the deep structure of a sentence refers to the way a sentence is to be understood.

Which of the following can be explained by traditional evolutionary theorists?

According to the principle of ________, the fate of genetic variations depends on the environment.

Researchers have completed a rough map of the human genome including information about what each gene does and where it is located.

Match these achievements with the appropriate person. -He proposed that species evolve as a result of natural selection.

Family circumstances that can reduce intellectual competence include all of the following EXCEPT:

The relative power of biology and culture is the main issue confronting evolutionary theorists and their critics. Evolutionary psychologists believe that genes hold culture on a leash that is ________, whereas their common critics contend that the leash is ________.

Sociobiologists argue that males and females evolved different sexual and courtship strategies because they faced different challenges to survival.

In a study of 10 000 people in 37 cultures, researchers found that women, compared to men, are more interested in the physical attractiveness of their partners.

According to Chomsky, the surface structure of a sentence refers to the way a sentence is to be understood.

Match these definitions with the appropriate term. -The chromosomal molecule that transfers genetic characteristics by way of coded instructions for the structure of proteins.