Module 1.1 (Interaction of Heredity and Environment)

nature vs nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

natural selection

the principle that the inherited traits enabling an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Mutation

a random error in gene replication that leads to a change

environment

every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us

heredity

the genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring

genes

biochemical units of heredity

genome

the complete instructions for making an organism

identical (monozygotic) twins

twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms

fraternal (dizygotic) twins

develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, but they share a prenatal environment

interaction

the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity)

Epigenetics

the study of the molecular ways by which environments can influence gene expression (without a DNA change)