chapter 2

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist

the general intellectual climate of our culture

Cartesian dualism

the universe is composed of two elements: (1) physical matter which behaves according to the laws of nature and thus is a suitable object of scientific investigation, and (2) the human mind (self, soul, or spirit), which lacks physical substance, controls human behavior, obeys no natural laws, and is thus the appropriate purview of the church. The human body, including the brain, was assumed to be entirely physical, and so were nonhuman animals

nature-nurture issue

the debate whether humans and other animals inherit their behavioral capacities or acquire them through learning

ethology

the study of animal behavior in the wild

instinctive behaviors

behaviors that occur in all like members of a species, even when there seems to have been no opportunity for them to have been learned

asomatognosia

a deficiency in the awareness of parts of one's own body

natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

evolve

to undergo gradual orderly change

fitness

the ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation

social dominance

a motivation to have one's group dominate other social groups

courtship display

behavior to attract a mate/breeding partner

species

a group of organisms reproductively isolated from other organiss

conspecifics

members of the same species

chordates

animals with large nerves that run along the center of the back (dorsal nerve cords)

vertebrates

chordates that possess spinal bones called vertebre

amphibians

vertebrates that live in water and on land, smooth skin covers body, lay eggs, cold blooded

mammals

class of vertebrate that feeds young with secretions from special glands called mammary clands

reptiles

vertebrates that live on land, scales cover body, lay eggs, cold blooded

primates

An animal order including lemurs and tarsiers and monkeys and apes and human beings

hominins

human like species

spandrels

incidental nonadaptive evolutional by-products

exaptations

evolved to serve one function and were later co-opted to serve another

homologous

structures that are similar because they have a common evolutionary origin

analogous

structures that are similar but do not have a common evolutionary origin

convergent evlution

the evolution in unrelated species of similar solutions to the same environmental demands

brain stem

regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival

cerebrum

involved in more complex adaptive processes such as learning, perception, and motivation

convolutions

folds on the cerebral surface

polygyny

an arrangement in which one male forms mating bonds with more than one female

polyandry

a mating arrangement in which one female forms mating bonds with more than one male

monogamy

a mate-bonding pattern in which enduring bonds are formed between one male and one female

dichotomous traits

Traits that occur in one form or the other, never in combination

true-breeding lines

breeding lines in which interbred members always produce offspring with the same trait generation after generation

dominant trait

a genetic factor that blocks another genetic factor. appears in first generation offspring after crossing dichotomous traits

recessive trait

A trait that reappears in the second generation after disappearing in the first generation when parents with different traits are bred

phenotype

observable traits

genotype

traits that an organism can pass on to its offspring through its genetic material

gene

A segment of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a specific trait

alleles

two genes that control the same trait

homozygous

An organism that has two identical alleles for a trait

heterozygous

an organism that has two different genes for a trait

chromosomes

threadlike structures in the nucleus of the cell where genes are found

gametes

A haploid cell such as an egg or sperm. Gametes unite during sexual reproduction to produce a diploid zygote.

meiosis

process of cell division that produces gametes

zygote

a fertilized egg cell

genetic recombination

The regrouping of genes in an offspring that results in a genetic makeup that is different from that of the parents.

mitosis

the process of cell division that produces all somatic cells

DNA

makes up double strands composing each chromosome

nucleotide bases

sequences attached to a chain of phosphate and deoxyribose: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine

replication

Copying process by which a cell duplicates its DNA

mutations

accidental alteration in individual genes

autosomal chromosomes

22 chromosome pairs that control traits NOT related to gender--same in females and males.

sex chromosomes

the pair of chromosomes that determines an individual's sex

sex-linked traits

traits influenced by genes on the sex chromosomes

proteins

long chains of amino acids; they contorl the physiological activities of cells and are important components of cellular structure

amino acids

Building blocks of protein

enhancers

stretched of DNA whos function is to determine whether particular structural genes initiate the synthesis of proteins and at what rate

gene expression

process by which a gene produces its product and the product carries out its function

transcription factors

proteins that bind to DNA and influence the extent to which genes are expressed

RNA

A single-stranded nucleic acid that passes along genetic messages, contains uracil

mRNA

strand of transcribed RNA that carries the genetic code out of the nucleus of the cell

ribosomes

Cytoplasmic organelles at which proteins are synthesized.

codon

each of the tree consecutive nucleotide bases along messenger RNA strands

tRNA

type of RNA that carries amino acids to the ribosomes

mitochondria

energy-generating structures located in the cytoplasm of every cell.

human genome project

An international collaborative effort to map and sequence the DNA of the entire human genome.

DNA methylation

epigenetic mechanism involved in gene expression that occurs when a methyl group attaches to a DNA molecule usually at cytosine sides in mammals

histone remodeling

the reaction that occurs when histones change their shape and in doing so influence the shape of the adjacent DNA

histones

proteins around which DNA is coded

ontogeny

the development of individuals over their life span

phylogeney

the evolutionary development of species through the ages

PKU

A human metabolic disease caused by a mutation in a gene coding for a phenylalanine processing enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase), which leads to accumulation of phenylalanine and mental retardation if not treated; inherited as an autosomal recessive phenotype.

sensitive period

the period, usually early in life, during which a particular experience must occur to have a major effect on the development of a traid

sensory phase

the first of the two phases of birdsong development, during which young birds do not sing but form memories of the adult songs they hear.

sensorimotor phase

the second phase of birdsong development in which the birds' vocalization of subsongs are gradually refined until they resemble the songs of the bids' earlier adult tutors