Notes from Peter Gray's Psychology: Sixth Edition (International Edition)
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| 1290612760 | Adaptation | Modification to meet changed life circumstances | 0 | |
| 1290612761 | Structural proteins | Class of proteins that forms the structure of every cell of the body | 1 | |
| 1290612762 | Enzymes | Class of proteins that controls the rate of every chemical reaction in every cell | 2 | |
| 1290612763 | Amino acids | Small molecules that form long chains of several hundred to a thousand, making up protein molecules | 3 | |
| 1290612764 | 20 | The total number of amino acids | 4 | |
| 1290612765 | Coding genes | Genes which code for unique protein molecules | 5 | |
| 1290612766 | Regulatory genes | Genes that work through various biological means to help activate or suppress specific coding genes | 6 | |
| 1290612767 | Environment | Every aspect of an individual and his or her surroundings except the genes themselves | 7 | |
| 1290612768 | Genotype | The set of genes that the individual inherits | 8 | |
| 1290612769 | Phenotype | The observable properties of the body and behavioral traits | 9 | |
| 1290612770 | Chromosomes | Structures which contain DNA within the nucleus | 10 | |
| 1290612771 | 23 | The number of pairs of chromosomes humans typically have | 11 | |
| 1290612772 | Mitosis | The process by which cells divide to produce new cells other than egg or sperm cells: each chromosome replicates itself, then the cell divides; one copy of each chromosome moves into each of the two nuclei that form | 12 | |
| 1290612773 | Differential activation of genes | The cause of the differences between different types of somatic cells in the body | 13 | |
| 1290612774 | Meiosis | The process by which cells divide to produce egg or sperm cells: each chromosome replicates itself once, then the cell divides twice, resulting in each of the four new cells containing only half the full number of chromosomes | 14 | |
| 1290612775 | Zygote | A single new cell formed by the combination of a sperm and an egg cell; contains the full set (23 pairs) of chromosomes | 15 | |
| 1290612776 | Genetically diverse offspring | The value of sexual reproduction, as opposed to asexual reproduction | 16 | |
| 1290612777 | Identical twins | Formed when two bundles of cells separate from each other during the early mitotic divisions following the formation of the zygote; the only people who are genetically identical to one another | 17 | |
| 1290612778 | Monozygotic twins | Another name for identical twins | 18 | |
| 1290612779 | Fraternal twins | Twins that originate from two zygotes made of different sperm and different egg cells | 19 | |
| 1290612780 | Dizygotic twins | Another name for fraternal twins | 20 | |
| 1290654888 | Locus | A location on a pair of chromosomes | 21 | |
| 1290654889 | Homozygous | Having two identical copies of a gene at the same locus | 22 | |
| 1290654890 | Heterozygous | Having two different copies of a gene at the same locus | 23 | |
| 1290654891 | Alleles | Different genes that can occupy the same locus | 24 | |
| 1290654892 | Dominant gene | A gene that will produce its observable effects in either the homozygous or heterozygous condition | 25 | |
| 1290654893 | Recessive gene | A gene that will only produce its observable effects in homozygous condition | 26 | |
| 1290654894 | Mendel | Monk whose experiments cross-breeding pea plants have shown how traits are passed from one generation to the next | 27 | |
| 1290654895 | John Paul Scott and John Fuller | Two researchers who demonstrated single-gene control of a behavioral trait by crossing basenji dogs, who are timid, with cocker spaniels, who are not naturally timid dogs; their results showed that the allele controlling fearfulness was dominant | 28 | |
| 1290654896 | KE family | Family with a rare disorder (SLI) characterized by difficulty articulating words, distinguishing speech sounds from other sounds, and learning grammatical rules; this disorder, controlled by a dominant allele, is found on chromosome 7, and normally codes for a type of protein known as a transcription factor | 29 | |
| 1290654897 | Normal distribution | Distribution in which most scores fall near the middle of the range and the frequency tapers off at both extremes | 30 | |
| 1290654898 | Polygenic characteristics | Characteristics that vary in a continuous way and are generally affected by many genes | 31 | |
| 1290654899 | Selective breeding | Procedure by which individuals lying towards the same extreme characteristic in question are mated together in order to emphasize that specific characteristic | 32 | |
| 1290654900 | Robert Tryon | Researcher who mated "maze bright" and "maze dull" rats together in the 1920s, based on their abilities in figuring out a maze; parenting did not affect the rats' maze-solving abilities; later studies proved that the "dull" rats were as good as, if not better than, the "bright" ones at solving other learning tasks | 33 | |
| 1290654901 | Artificial selection | Human-controlled selective breeding | 34 | |
| 1290654902 | Natural selection | Selective breeding in nature, which is dictated by the obstacles to production that are imposed by the natural environment, including predators, limited food supplies, extreme temperatures, and difficulty finding or attracting mates | 35 | |
| 1290654903 | Mutations | Errors that occasionally and unpredictably occur during DNA replication, causing the "replica" to be not quite identical to the original | 36 | |
| 1290654904 | Lamarck | Proposed the idea that offspring inherited characteristics that their parents had acquired over their lifetimes; this theory was proven false, as evolution is based entirely on genetic changes | 37 | |
| 1291495790 | Functionalism | The attempt to explain behavior in terms of what it accomplishes for the behaving individual | 38 | |
| 1291495791 | Ultimate explanations | Functional explanations at the evolutionary level | 39 | |
| 1291495792 | Proximate explanations | Functional explanations that deal not with function but with mechanism; statements of the immediate condition | 40 | |
| 1291495793 | Vestigial characteristics | Traits that evolved to serve the needs of our ancestors, and remain despite the fact that they are no longer functional today; for example, prematurely born infants grasp so strongly that they can support their own weight; human tailbones and appendixes | 41 | |
| 1291495794 | Genetic drift | Genetic variation due to chance alone, without selection | 42 | |
| 1291495795 | Species-specific behaviors | Characteristic ways of behaving specific to a certain species; also known as instincts | 43 | |
| 1291495796 | Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt | Researcher who documented the cross-cultural universality of many nonverbal signals, including the "eyebrow flash," a gesture of greeting which is usually accompanied by a smile and an upward nod of the head | 44 | |
| 1291495797 | Biological preparedness | Predisposition to easily learn behaviors related to survival of the species | 45 | |
| 1291865665 | Homology | Any similarity that exists because of the different species' common ancestry | 46 | |
| 1291865666 | Analogy | Any similarity that stems not from common ancestry, but from convergent evolution; examples include the wings of birds, bats, and butterflies | 47 | |
| 1291865667 | Convergent evolution | A type of evolution that occurs when different species independently evolve a certain characteristic because of some similarity in their habitats or lifestyle | 48 | |
| 1291865668 | Smile | People do this for two reasons: 1) when genuinely happy 2) when wishing to show another person that they are favorably disposed toward that person | 49 | |
| 1291865669 | Polygyny | Mating pattern in which one male mates with multiple females; related to high female and low male parental investment | 50 | |
| 1291865670 | Polyandry | Mating pattern in which one female mates with multiple males; related to high male and low female parental investment | 51 | |
| 1291865671 | Monogamy | Mating pattern in which one male mates with one female; related to equivalent male and female parental investment | 52 | |
| 1291865672 | Polygynandry | Mating pattern in which multiple makes mate with multiple females; related to investment in the group | 53 | |
| 1291865673 | Parental investment | The time, energy, and risk to survival that are involved in producing, feeding, and otherwise caring for each offspring | 54 | |
| 1291865674 | Aggression | Fighting and threats of fighting among members of the same species | 55 | |
| 1291865675 | Helping | Any behavior that increases the survival chance or reproductive capacity of another individual | 56 | |
| 1291865676 | Cooperation | Any behavior in which an individual helps another while helping itself | 57 | |
| 1291865677 | Altruism | Any behavior in which an individual increases another's chance of survival, while decreasing their own chance of survival | 58 | |
| 1291865678 | Kin selection theory | A theory of altruism that states that altruistic behavior came about through natural selection because it preferentially helps close relatives, who are genetically most similar to the helper | 59 | |
| 1291894966 | Reciprocity theory | A theory of altruism that states that seemingly altruistic behaviors are actually forms of long-term cooperation | 60 | |
| 1291894967 | Naturalistic fallacy | The equation of "natural" with "moral" or "right"; coined by British philosopher G.E. Moore | 61 | |
| 1291894968 | Herbert Spencer | British philosopher who coined the term "survival of the fittest"; his main goal was to apply Darwin's theory to the spheres of social philosophy and ethics | 62 | |
| 1291894969 | Social Darwinism | Belief that "the fittest" were those who rose to the top in unchecked capitalism, and the "unfit" were those who fell into poverty or starvation | 63 | |
| 1291894970 | Deterministic fallacy | The false assumption that genetic influences on our behavior take the form of genetic control of our behavior, which we can do nothing about | 64 |
