Monogamy
one male mates with one female; equal investment and equal competition; emerges when difficult to raise offspring.
Selective Breeding
mating of individuals that lie toward the same extreme on the measure in question.
Allele
different genes that occupy the same locus on a chromosome pair.
Cooperation
when an individual helps another while helping itself.
Functionalism
attempt to explain behavior in terms of what it accomplishes for the behaving individual.
Genes
exist on long DNA strands in chromosomes, like beads on a string.
Promiscuity
multiple males and multiple females mate with each other.
Altruism
increasing the survival reproductive chances of another at the expense of one's own.
Polygyny
high female investment and high competition for female mates.
Polyandry
high male investment and high competition for male mates.
Epigenetics
examines the "gene-regulating activity" that doesn't involve changes to the DNA code and that can persist through one or more generations.
Polygenic
the gradual, cumulative effect.
Fallacy
a false notion, statement, or argument based on invalid reasoning.
Aggression
behavior intended to harm another member of the same species.
Kin selection theory
altruism came about because it helps close relatives.
Maladaptive outcome
the process of domesticating dogs, humans have inadvertently bred maladaptive features in dogs, such as floppy eats and smaller jaws, because these features are associated with tameness.
Robert Trivers Studies
parental investment correlated with the number of mates.
Homology
similarities are due to common ancestry.
Recessive allele
produces effects in the homozygous condition only.
DNA methylation
a best- understood mechanism for epigenetics.
Dominant allele
produces effects in both homo and heterozygous conditions.
Polygenic characteristics
varies in a continuous fashion.
Proximate Explanations
mechanical, describe the immediate conditions, inside and outside the organism that bring the behavior.