AP Psych Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

redo of the biological approach study guide, includes all textbook key terms + lopez assignment notes

nature-nurture issue

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

• today’s science views traits & behaviors as arising from the interaction of nature and nurture

natural selection

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

• “survival of the fittest”

evolutionary psychology

study of the evolution of behavior & the mind using principles of natural selection

behavior genetics

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

mutation

random error in gene replication that leads to a change

environment

every nongenetic influence

• from prenatal nutrition to our experiences of the people & things around us

heredity

the genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring

genes

the biochemical units of heredity

genome

the complete instructions for making an organism

identical/monozygotic twins

individuals who developed from a single fertilized egg that split in 2, creating 2 genetically identical organisms

fraternal/dizygotic twins

individuals who developed from separate fertilized eggs

• genetically, no closer than ordinary siblings but they share a prenatal environment

interact

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

epigenetics

study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (w/o a DNA change)

• “above” or “in addition to” (epi) genetics

nervous system

body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral & central nervous system

central nervous system/CNS

brain & spinal cord

peripheral nervous system/PNS

sensory & motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

• everything but the brain & spinal cord

nerves

bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the CNS w/ muscles, glands, & sensory organs

sensory neurons

neurons that carry incoming info from the body’s tissues & sensory receptors to the CNS

• afferent, meaning to

motor neurons

neurons that carry outgoing info from the CNS to the muscles & glands

• efferent, meaning from

interneurons

neurons w/in the CNS

• they communicate internally & process info between the sensory inputs & motor outputs

somatic nervous system

division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles

• also called the skeletal nervous system

autonomic nervous system/ANS

division of the PNS that controls the glands & the muscles of the internal organs (ex. heart)

• sympathetic division arouses

• parasympathetic division calms

sympathetic nervous system

division of the ANS that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy

parasympathetic nervous system

division of the ANS that calms the body, conserving its energy

reflex

simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus

ex. knee-jerk response