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What is heredity
The transmission of genetic information across generations, and how that genetic information translates to differences in physical characteristics and behaviour
What is DNA?
A long molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid found in the nucleus of cells.
What are chromosomes made of?
DNA and proteins coiled together
What is a gene?
A segment of DNA that has a specific location on a chromosome.
How many pairs of chromosomes do humans have?
23 pairs (46 total) sperm and egg cells each have 23
What are autosomes
22/23 pairs of chromosomes. and each pair has matching genes
What are the last pair of chromosomes
sex chromosomes. Female: XX and Male: XY
What is inheritance
how traits are passed from parents to their children through genes
What are alleles
different versions of the same gene. everyone has two for each gene, one from each parent
What does homozygous mean?
Both alleles are the same (e.g., both curly hair).
What does heterozygous mean?
The two alleles are different (e.g., one curly, one straight).
What is a dominant allele?
an allele that always shows up if present, even if there's only one
What is a recessive allele?
An allele that only shows up if the child gets two copies (one from each parent)
What is autosomal dominant inheritance?
A trait appears if just one dominant allele is inherited (e.g., freckles, dimples, Huntington's disease).
What is autosomal recessive inheritance?
A trait only appears if two recessive alleles are inherited, one from each parent (e.g., sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, attached earlobes).
What happens if a person has only one recessive allele
they are a carrier but don't show the trait
What is codominance?
Both alleles are dominant, so both traits appear together (e.g., blood type AB shows both A and B).
What is incomplete dominance?
The alleles blend, creating a mix of both traits (e.g., wavy hair is a mix of straight and curly).
What is passive gene-environment correlation?
Parents provide both genes and an environment that supports those genes (e.g., intelligent parents create a book-filled home).
What is evocative gene-environment correlation?
A child's traits influence how others respond to them (e.g., a friendly child gets more positive interactions).
What is active gene-environment correlation?
People seek environments that match their genetic traits (e.g., a musically gifted child takes music lessons).
What are gene-environment interactions (G×E)?
Genes make some people more sensitive to their environment.
Who are "Orchid Children"?
Children highly affected by their environment—thriving in good conditions but struggling in bad ones.
Who are "Dandelion Children"?
Children who can thrive in almost any environment, even under hardships.
What are the two types of cells in the nervous system
Neurons and Glia
What are neurons
allow information to pass around the brain
What are glia
support roles, making it possible for neurons to survive
What is a cell body
Contains the nucleus and keeps the neuron functioning.
What do dendrites do
Receive chemical signals from other neurons.
What does the axon do
Sends electrical signals from the cell body to the axon terminals. vary in length (from 1 mm to over 1 meter
What do axon terminals do
Convert electrical signals into chemical messages (neurotransmitters) to communicate with other neurons.
What is the myelin sheath
A fatty layer around the axon that speeds up electrical signal transmission.
What is the process of brain development?
1. Neurogenesis (cell proliferation)
2. Cell migration
3. Synaptogenesis (cell elaboration)
4. Myelination
5. Synaptic pruning (Culling)
What is Neurulation
process in early brain and spinal cord development where the neural tube forms.
This tube later becomes the brain and spinal cord. It happens in the first few weeks of pregnancy.
What is neurogenesis (cell proliferation)
Creation of new neurons from stem cells
When does neurogenesis occur
3rd-15th week of prenatal development, can also limitedly occur into adulthood
What is encephalization
brain growth outpaces body growth
how many neurons are their are in the adult cortex
14-16 billion
how many glial cells does the brain contain
61 billion
What are basket cells
brain cells that help control other brain cells. they wrap around them and help manage overall activity
What are chandelier cells
connect to the axon beginning of other neurons controlling their firing and regulating their activity
What are Martinotti cells
send signals to the branches (dendrites)
What is a genome
the entire set of DNA instructions found in a cell. Blueprint for the brain
What is cell migration
Neurons moving to their final locations
When does cell migration occur
4-6 weeks after conception
What is passive cell displacement
new cells are pushing old cells out (short distance)
What is active migration
cells activly move themselves to their final position (long distances
When is active migration done
during gestation at around 7 months in the tum
What happens during cell elaboration
neurons grow and connect and synaptogenesis and myelination occur.
What is the process of synaptogensis
synapses (connections between neurons) are produced due to the formation of axons and dendrites
When does synaptogenesis occur
20 weeks (4.5 months) after conception and continues into early adulthood. peak at 8 months in the womb
What is myelination
Neurons get covered with a fatty layer called myelin, which helps electrical signals travel faster and more efficiently.
when does myelination occur
5 months post-conception into adulthood
what is myelination crutial for
the development of observable behaviours
In what order do brain areas myelinate
Vision first, then language, then planning, decision-making, and self-control.
By what age is sensory and motor area myelination complete?
By age 4.
What is synaptic pruning (culling)
For efficient brain function, unused neurons die off and weak synapses are pruned
When does synaptic pruning occur
age 2- adolescence. strongest in adolescence
Two hemispheres of the brain: What does the left hemisphere represent
controls language, logic, and analytic thinking (eg speech and math)
Two hemispheres of the brain: What does the right hemisphere represent
Handles creativity, spatial ability, and recognizing emotions (eg music and faces)
What is the role of the brainstem
basic survival functions like breathing, heart rate, reflexes, and balance. pathway for information traveling between the brain and body
What is the role of the cerebellum
controls coordination, balance, voluntary movement, and muscle tone and may also play a role in memory.
What is the role of the occipital lobe
processing of visual information
What is the role of the temporal lobe
processing sounds, perception and recognition of objects, associated with memory and language (spoken and written
What are the two functional regions of the parietal lobe
First functional region and second functional region
What is the role of the first functional region in the parietal lobe
integrates sensory information like touch temperature and pain
What is the role of the second functional region of the parietal lobe
constructs a spatial awareness and navigation to represent the world around us
What is the role of the frontal lobe
higher-order thinking, including reasoning, planning, decision-making, and working memory. It helps with self-control and problem-solving.
What are the two processing streams of the brain
Dorsal stream and ventral stream
What is the dorsal stream
Processes "where and how" things are, including motion, object location, and guiding movements.
what is the ventral stream
processes "what" things are, including shape, color, object recognition, and long-term memory.
when are the modules for processing information like colour, orientation, depth, size functional by?
3 months after birth
When do saccades (rapid eye movement) activley appear
after 6 months
Mental rotation (the ability to mentally manipulate objects in space) activity reaches adult-like levels at
8-12 years
Pattern/object integration (integrate different parts of objects or pattern into a whole) develops fully at
12-14 years
See activity in the fusiform face area (FFA: temporal lobe region for facial recognition) at
2-3 months
Speech processing appears at
6 months
what develops slower the ventral or dorsal stream
the dorsal stream.. meaning spatial skills take longer to mature than object and face recognition.
What is plasticity
refers to the brains ability to change based on experience and adapt to different environments during development
What are the types of plasticity
Experience-expectant plasticity and experience-dependent plasticity
What is experience-expectant plasticity
The brain develops based on common human experiences (vision, language, social interaction) Example: if baby's vision is blocked (eg. by a lazy eye) normal depth perception may not develop
What is experience-dependent plasticity
Brain changes based on unique personal experiences (eg learning an instrument, growing up in a small town vs big city)
What is the process of vision and seeing
something is reflected onto the retina
Why does visual attention direct our resources
Because visual information is broken down into individual components (like colour and shape) and must be processed together.
What role does attention play in combining visual information?
It acts as the "glue" that joins the components together.
What are the two components of visual attention suggested by Cohen (1972)?
Attention-getting & attention-holding.
What two measures did Cohen (1972) use to assess attention?
Latency (time between stimulus and looking) & fixation duration (how long they looked).
How did checkerboard size influence attention?
Smaller size → took infants longer to look.
Bigger size → captured more attention.
How did the number of checkers affect looking time?
More checkers → longer looking time because more information had to be processed.
What are the two dissociated components of visual attention?
Size and number/quantity.
What did Richards (1985, 1991) measure in infants to study attention?
Heart rate changes during attention tasks.
What happens to an infant's heart rate when paying attention?
It decreases (decelerates).
what is visual pop out or bottom-up attention
aspect of selective attention in which items that are unique automatically catch our attention
What did Sireteanu & Rieth find about preferential looking and pop-outs
found that 10-12 month olds exhibited pop-out
What did Atkinson & Braddick find about preferential looking and pop-outs
found that 3.5-4.5 month olds also exhibited pop-out
What is the Visual Search Paradigm?
A task that measures eye movements to see how infants find a target among distractors, testing their ability to exhibit pop-out.
How did infants respond to more L's versus a + sign?
More L's → took longer; + sign → same reaction time regardless of quantity at 3 months.
What conclusion can be drawn from these findings?
Infants as young as 3 months can exhibit pop-out.
What did Bahrick, Walker, & Neisser (1981) study about selective attention in infants?
showed 4-month-old babies two overlapping pictures. Then, they split the pictures apart and watched which one the babies looked at.
What did it mean if infants looked at the novel stimulus
they had selectivley attended and chose one and ignored the other- showing that infants can focus on one thing while ignoring distractions
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