Biopsychology- Exam 1

Behavioral Genetics

Studies the relative contribution that genetic inheritance and the environment have on behavioral traits

Rene Descartes

a 17th century philosopher who came up with the idea of dualism, the idea that the minf is independent of the body but can still control it

Thomas Hobbes

coined the term materialism (mind and body are inseperable/ mental events are the product of physical events in the brain

What is the definition of ‘innate’?

From birth, refers to the nature vs. nurture dilemma

Immanueal Kant

came up with the idea that the mind is not blank at birth, but rather is pre-wired and functionally constrained

Evolutionary Psychology

Studies the influence of the human species’ past natural history (evolution theory) on behavior in the modern environment

What do enzymes do?

they are the special proteins that regulate cell function

Transcription

copying DNA into RNA inside the nucleus

Translation

Changing RNA into protein which occurs outside the nucleus

What are genes?

segments of chromosomes that provide the instructions for synthesizing a specific order of amino acids into a single protein

Gene Regulation

The steps of protein synthesis can be modified in many ways to control when and where a particular gene is expressed

Epigentics

certain chemicals we ingest can regulate what genes are expressed

Alleles

the nuclei of cells contain two sets of chromosomes, one from mom, and one from dad