BIOPSYCHOLOGY

BOOK / DOC EDGE / 1st YR - 2nd SEM

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[TRANS] UNIT 2: EVOLUTION, GENERICS, AND EXPERIENCE

behavior, obeys no natural laws, and is thus

The Ironic Case of Professor P the appropriate purview of the Church
● cartesian dualism, as Descartes’s philosophy
○ A neuroscientist past his prime became known, was sanctioned by the Roman
○ His symptoms started with slight deficits in Church, and so the idea that the human brain
balance and the mind are separate entities became even
○ After 3 yrs, his right ear is going deaf more widely accepted
○ After a yr, he experiences dumbness on the
right side of his mouth (having problems IS IT INHERITED OR IS IT LEARNED?
swallowing), and his right tear ducts were not
● nature–nurture issue- whether humans and
releasing enough tears
other animals inherit their behavioral capacities
○ He stared at the point where the auditory and
or acquire them through learning
vestibular nerves come together to form
● John B. Watson, the father of behaviorism
cranial nerve 8 (the auditory-vestibular nerve)
● ethology (the study of animal behavior in the
○ As predicted, there’s a tumor sitting on the
wild
right cranial nerve 8
● instinctive behaviors (behaviors that occur in all
○ During the surgery, he stopped breathing
like members of a species, even when there
○ His auditory-vestibular nerve was transected
seems to have been no opportunity for them to
during his surgery, which left him permanently
have been learned
deaf and without vestibular function on the
right side
○ Also left with partial hemifacial paralysis, PROBLEMS WITH THINKING ABOUT THE
including serious blinking and tearing problem BIOLOGY OF BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF
TRADITIONAL DICHOTOMIES
THINKING ABOUT THE BIOLOGY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL-OR-PSYCHOLOGICAL
BEHAVIOR: FROM DICHOTOMIES TO THINKING RUNS INTO DIFFICULTY
INTERACTIONS ● There are two lines of evidence against
physiological-or-psychological thinking (the
THE ORIGINS OF DICHOTOMOUS THINKING assumption that some aspects of human
● The tendency to think about behavior in terms of psychological functioning are so complex that
dichotomies is illustrated by two kinds of they could not possibly be the product of a
questions commonly asked about behavior physical brain)
○ Is it physiological, or is it psychological? ○ The first line is composed of the many
○ Is it inherited, or is it learned? demonstrations that even the most complex
● Both questions have proved to be misguided, yet psychological changes (e.g., changes in
they are among the most common kinds of self-awareness, memory, or emotion) can be
questions asked in biopsychology classrooms produced by damage to, or stimulation of,
parts of the brain
IS IT PHYSIOLOGICAL OR IS IT ○ The second line of evidence is composed of
PSYCHOLOGICAL? demonstrations that some nonhuman
● Decartes argued that the universe is composed species, particularly primate species,
of two elements: possess some abilities that were once
○ physical matter, which behaves according to assumed to be purely psychological and thus
the laws of nature and is thus a suitable purely human
object of scientific investigation—the human ● Both cases deal with self-awareness, which is
body, including the brain, was assumed to be widely regarded as one hallmark of the human
entirely physical, and so were nonhuman mind
animals ● asomatognosia, a deficiency in the awareness
○ the human mind (soul, self, or spirit), which of parts of one’s own body
lacks physical substance, controls human
○
 ○ typically involves the left side of the body
and usually results from damage to the right
parietal lobe The Case of a Thinking Student

○ One of my students told me (JP) she had

The Case of the Man Who Fell Out Of Bed read that intelligence was one-third
genetic and two-thirds experience
○ Dr. Sacks’s patient felt fine—that is, until ○ I responded by asking her the following
he touched the thing in bed next to him question: “If I wanted to get a better
○ Dr. Sacks’s patient felt fine—that is, until understanding of music, would it be
he touched the thing in bed next to him reasonable for me to begin by asking how
○ he thinks that one of the nurses must much of it came from the musician and
have taken it from the autopsy department how much of it came from the
and put it in his bed as a joke instrument?”
○ he threw the leg out of the bed, but ○ “That would be dumb,” she said. “The
somehow he landed on the floor with it music comes from both; it makes no
attached to him sense to ask how much comes from the
○ he had no idea where his own leg was—it musician and how much comes from the
had disappeared instrument. Somehow the music results
from the interaction of the two together.
● even nonhumans, which are assumed to have no You would have to ask about the
mind, are capable of considerable psychological interaction.”
complexity—in this case, self-awareness ○ Intelligence is the product of the
● Although their brains are less complex than the interaction of genes and experience
brains of humans, some species are capable of
high levels of psychological complexity
A MODEL OF THE BIOLOGY OF BEHAVIOR
Case of the Chimps with Mirrors ● This model boils down to the single premise that
all behavior is the product of interactions among
○ One way of assessing an organism’s three factors: (1) the organism’s genetic
self-awareness is to confront it with a endowment, which is a product of its evolution;
mirror (2) its experience; and (3) its perception of the
○ the first reaction of a chimpanzee to a current situation
mirror is to respond as if it were seeing
another chimpanzee
○ However, after a day or two, it starts to act
as if it were self-aware.
○ It starts to use the mirror to groom, to
inspect parts of its body, and to
experiment with its reflection by making
faces and assuming unusual postures
while monitoring the results in the mirror
○ In an attempt to provide even more
convincing evidence of self-awareness,
Gallup (1983) devised a clever test
○ Each chimpanzee was anesthetized, and
its eyebrow was painted with a red,
odorless, dye
○ Upon seeing its painted eyebrow in the
mirror, each chimpanzee repeatedly
touched the marked area on its eyebrow
while watching the image

NATURE-OR-NURTURE THINKING RUNS

INTO DIFFICULTY
● it changed the nature-or-nurture dichotomy from
“genetic factors or learning” to “genetic factors or
experience.”
● it changed the nature-or-nurture dichotomy from
“genetic factors or learning” to “genetic factors or
experience.”
 ● Darwin argued that evolution occurs through
HUMAN EVOLUTION natural selection
● He pointed out that the members of each species
DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION vary greatly in their structure, physiology, and
● Modern biology began in 1859 with the behavior and that the heritable traits associated
publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of with high rates of survival and reproduction are
Species the most likely ones to be passed on to future
● Darwin described his theory of evolution—the generations
single most influential theory in the biological ● He argued that natural selection, when repeated
sciences for generation after generation, leads to the
● Darwin was not the first to suggest that species evolution of species that are better adapted to
evolve (undergo gradual orderly change) from surviving and reproducing in their particular
preexisting species, but he was the first to amass environmental niche
a large body of supporting evidence and the first ● fitness, in the Darwinian sense, is the ability of
to suggest how evolution occurs an organism to survive and contribute its genes
● Darwin presented three kinds of evidence to to the next generation
support his assertion that species evolve:
○ He documented the evolution of fossil EVOLUTION AND BEHAVIOR
records through progressively more recent ● Some behaviors play an obvious role in evolution
geological layers ○ For example, the ability to find food, avoid
○ He described striking structural similarities predation, or defend one’s young obviously
among living species (e.g., a human’s hand, increases an animal’s ability to pass on its
a bird’s wing, and a cat’s paw), which genes to future generations
suggested that they had evolved from ○ Other behaviors play a role that is less
common ancestors obvious but no less important—for example,
○ He pointed to the major changes that had social dominance and courtship displays
been brought about in domestic plants and
animals by programs of selective breeding SOCIAL DOMINANCE
● he males of many species establish a stable
hierarchy of social dominance through combative
encounters with other males
● In some species, these encounters often involve
physical damage
○ in others, they involve mainly posturing and
threatening until one of the two combatants
backs down
● The dominant male usually wins encounters with
all other males of the group
○ the number two male usually wins
encounters with all males except the
dominant male; and so on down the line
● Importance of social dominance
○ in some species, dominant males copulate
more than nondominant males and thus are
more effective in passing on their
characteristics to future generations
○ in some species, dominant females are more
likely to produce more and healthier offspring

COURTSHIP DISPLAY
● An intricate series of courtship displays precedes
copulation in many species
● The male approaches the female and signals his
interest.
○ His signal (which may be olfactory, visual,
auditory, or tactual) may elicit a signal in the
female, which may elicit another response in
the male, and so on, until copulation ensues
○ But copulation is unlikely to occur if one of
the pair fails to react appropriately to the
signals of the other
● Courtship displays are thought to promote the ○ they could take advantage of terrestrial food
evolution of new species sources
● A species is a group of organisms reproductively ● The advantages of life on land were so great that
isolated from other organisms natural selection transformed the fins and gills of
○ that is, the members of a species can bony fishes to legs and lungs, respectively— and
produce fertile offspring only by mating with so it was that the first amphibians evolved about
members of the same species 400 million years ago
● A new species begins to branch off from an ● Amphibians (e.g., frogs, toads, and salamanders)
existing species when some barrier discourages in their larval form must live in the water; only
breeding between a subpopulation of the existing adult amphibians can survive on land
species and the remainder of the species. Once
such a reproductive barrier forms, the EVOLUTION OF REPTILES
subpopulation evolves independently of the ● reptiles (e.g., lizards, snakes, and turtles) evolved
remainder of the species until cross fertilization from a branch of amphibians
becomes impossible ● Reptiles were the first vertebrates to lay
● The reproductive barrier may be geographic or shell-covered eggs and to be covered by dry
behavioral scales
○ Geographic- a few birds may fly together to ● A reptile does not have to spend the first stage of
an isolated island, where many generations its life in the watery environment of a pond or
of their offspring breed among themselves lake; instead, it spends the first stage of its life in
and evolve into a separate species the watery environment of a shell-covered egg
○ Behavioral- A few members of a species ○ once hatched, a reptile can live far from
may develop different courtship displays, and water because its dry scales greatly reduce
these may form a reproductive barrier water loss through its waterpermeable skin
between themselves and the rest of their
conspecifics(members of the same EVOLUTION OF MAMMALS
species):
▪ Only the suitable exchange of displays ● a new class of vertebrates evolved from one line
between a courting couple will lead to of small reptiles (mammals)
reproduction ● The females of this new class fed their young
with secretions from special glands called
mammary glands, and the members of the class
are called mammals after these glands
● Eventually, mammals stopped laying eggs;
COURSE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION instead, the females nurtured their young in the
watery environment of their bodies until the
young were mature enough to be born
EVOLUTION OF VERTEBRATES ● The duck-billed platypus is one surviving
● About 150 million years later, the first chordates mammalian species that lays eggs
evolved ● The order to which we belong is the order
● chordates (pronounced “KOR-dates”) are primates. We humans—in our usual humble
animals with dorsal nerve cords (large nerves way—named our order using the Latin term
that run along the center of the back, or dorsum) primus, which means “first” or “foremost.”
○ they are 1 of the 20 or so large categories, or ● most experts agree there are about 16 families of
phyla (pronounced “FY-la”), into which primates
zoologists group animal species ● Apes (gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, and
○ The first chordates with spinal bones to chimpanzees) are thought to have evolved from a
protect their dorsal nerve cords evolved line of Old World monkeys. Like Old World
about 25 million years later monkeys, apes have long arms and grasping
● The spinal bones are called vertebrae hind feet that are specialized for arboreal
(pronounced “VERT-eh-bray”), and the chordates (treetop) travel, and they have opposable thumbs
that possess them are called vertebrates that are not long enough to be of much use for
● The first vertebrates were primitive bony fishes precise manipulation
● seven classes of vertebrates: three classes of ○ apes have no tails and can walk upright for
fishes, plus amphibians, reptiles, birds, and short distances
mammals ● Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of
humans; almost 99 percent of genes are identical
EVOLUTION OF AMPHIBIANS in the two species
● Fishes that could survive on land for brief periods ● however, the actual ape ancestor of humans is
of time had two great advantages: likely long extinct
○ They could escape from stagnant pools to
nearby fresh water
EVOLUTION OF HUMANKIND ○ We are the last surviving species of a family
● Primates of the tribe that includes humans are (i.e., hominins) that has existed for only a
the hominini blip of evolutionary time

● Evolution does not always proceed slowly and

gradually
○ Rapid evolutionary changes (i.e., in a few
generations) can be triggered by sudden
changes in the environment or by adaptive
genetic mutations
● This tribe is composed of at least six genera (the ● Few products of evolution have survived to the
plural of genus): Australopithecus, Paranthropus, present day—only the tips of the branches of the
Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, Pan, and Homo. evolutionary bush have survived
○ Homo is thought to be composed of at least ● Evolution does not progress to preordained
eight species; seven of those Homo species perfection—evolution is a tinkerer, not an
are now extinct, whereas Homo sapiens architect
(humans) are not ● Not all existing behaviors or structures are
● australo means “southern,” and pithecus means adaptive
“ape” ○ Spandrels- the incidental nonadaptive
● Australopithecines were only about 1.3 meters (4 evolutionary by-products
feet) tall, and they had small brains, but analysis ▪ The human belly button is a spandrel; it
of their pelvis and leg bones indicates that their serves no adaptive function and is
posture was upright. merely the by-product of the umbilical
● The first Homo species are thought to have cord.
evolved from one species of Australopithecus ▪ Also, behaviors or structures that were
about 2 to 2.8 million years ago, although there once adaptive might become
are alternative views of the origins of the Homo nonadaptive, or even maladaptive, if the
genus environment changes
● One distinctive feature of the early Homo species ● Not all existing adaptive characteristics evolved
was the large size of their brain cavity, larger than to perform their current function
that of Australopithecus but smaller than that of ○ exaptations, evolved to serve one function
modern humans and were later co-opted to serve another
● Paradoxically, although the big three human ○ For example, bird wings are
attributes—large brain, upright posture, and free exaptations—they are limbs that initially
hands with an opposable thumb—have been evolved for the purpose of walking
evident for hundreds of thousands of years, most ● Similarities among species do not necessarily
human accomplishments are of recent origin mean that the species have common
evolutionary origins
THINKING ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION ○ Homologous- Structures that are similar
● Evolution does not proceed in a single line. because they have a common evolutionary
○ Although it is common to think of an origin
evolutionary ladder or scale, a far better ○ Analogous- structures that are similar but
metaphor for evolution is a dense bush do not have a common evolutionary origin
● We humans have little reason to claim ○ The similarities between analogous
evolutionary supremacy structures result from convergent
evolution- the evolution in unrelated species
 of similar solutions to the same indiscriminately copulate with many different
environmental demands partners during each mating period
○ For example, a bird’s wing and a human’s ● However, the males and females of some
arm have a basic underlying commonality of species form mating bonds (enduring mating
skeletal structure that suggests a common relationships) with particular members of the
ancestor; in contrast, a bird’s wing and a other sex
bee’s wing have few structural similarities, ○ Most mammals tend to form mating bonds
although they do serve the same function.
● There is now considerable evidence that Homo POLYGYNY AND POLYANDRY
sapiens mated with the other Homo species (e.g., ● Polygyny- an arrangement in which one male
Homo neanderthalensis) they encountered both forms mating bonds with more than one female
within Africa and as they migrated out of Africa ● Evidence suggests that polygyny evolved as the
○ These findings change the way we see our predominant pattern of mate bonding in
origins: We are not the product of a single mammals because female mammals make a far
ancestral population originating in Africa; greater contribution to the rearing of their young
rather, we are the offspring of many Homo than male
populations that once coexisted ○ Mammalian mothers carry their developing
young in their bodies, sometimes for many
EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN BRAIN months, and then suckle and care for them
● This research was stimulated by the assumption after they are born. In contrast, mammalian
that brain size and intellectual capacity are fathers often contribute little more to
closely related— an assumption that quickly ran reproduction than sperm
into two problems ○ One major consequence of this common
1. it was shown that modern humans, whom one-sided mammalian parenting
modern humans believe to be the most arrangement is that the females of most
intelligent of all creatures, do not have the mammalian species can produce only a few
biggest brains offspring during their lifetimes, whereas
○ With brains weighing about 1,350 males have the capacity to sire many
grams, humans rank far behind whales offspring
and elephants, whose brains weigh ● Because each female mammal can produce only
between 5,000 and 8,000 grams a few offspring, she must make the best of her
2. the sizes of the brains of acclaimed chances if her heritable characteristics are going
intellectuals (e.g., Einstein) were found to be to be passed on to future generations in
unremarkable, certainly no match for their significant numbers.
gigantic intellects ● because male mammals can sire so many
● A more reasonable approach to the study of brain offspring, there has been little evolutionary
evolution has been to compare the evolution of pressure on them to become selective in their
different brain regions bonding—the males of most mammalian species
○ brain stem regulates reflex activities that are will form mating bonds with as many females as
critical for survival (e.g., heart rate, possible
respiration, and blood glucose level) ● The inevitable consequence of the selective
○ cerebrum is involved in more complex bonding of female mammals and the
adaptive processes such as learning, nonselective bonding of male mammals is
perception, and motivation polygyny
● This figure makes three important points about ● The strongest evidence in support of the theory
the evolution of the human brain: that polygyny evolves when females make a far
○ The brain has increased in size during greater contribution to reproduction and parenting
evolution. than males do comes from studies of polyandry
○ Most of the increase in size has occurred in ○ Polyandry is a mating arrangement in which
the cerebrum. one female forms mating bonds with more
○ An increase in the number of than one male
convolutions—folds on the cerebral ○ Polyandry does not occur in mammals
surface—has greatly increased the surface ○ it occurs only in species in which the
area of the cerebral cortex, the outermost contributions of the males to reproduction
layer of cerebral tissue are greater than those of the females
○ For example, in one polyandrous species,
EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY: the seahorse, the female deposits her eggs
UNDERSTANDING MATE BONDING in the male’s pouch, and he fertilizes them
● In most vertebrate species, mating is totally and carries them until they are mature
promiscuous—promiscuity is a mating enough to venture out on their own
arrangement in which the members of both sexes ● female mammals tend to be more selective in
their reproductive bonding
● Because of the selectivity of the females, the MENDELIAN GENETICS
competition among the males for reproductive ● Mendel studied inheritance in pea plants
partners becomes fierce, with only the successful ● He decided to study dichotomous traits, and he
competitors passing on their genes. decided to begin his experiments by crossing the
○ In contrast, mammalian females rarely have offspring of true-breeding lines
difficulty finding reproductive partners. ● dichotomous traits occur in one form or the
other, never in combination
MONOGAMY ○ For example, seed color is a dichotomous
● most mammals are polygynous, pea plant trait: Every pea plant has either
○ about 9 percent of mammalian species are brown seeds or white seeds
primarily monogamous ● true-breeding lines are breeding lines in which
● Monogamy is a mate-bonding pattern in which interbred members always produce offspring with
enduring bonds are formed between one male the same trait (e.g., brown seeds), generation
and one female after generation
● Monogamy is thought to have evolved in those ● In one of his early experiments, Mendel studied
mammalian species in which each female could the inheritance of seed color: brown or white
raise more young, or more fit young, if she had ● He began by crossbreeding the offspring of a line
undivided help of pea plants that had bred true for brown seeds
● In such species, any change in the behavior of a with the offspring of a line of pea plants that had
female that would encourage a male to bond bred true for white seeds. The offspring of this
exclusively with her would increase the likelihood cross all had brown seeds. Then, Mendel bred
that her heritable characteristics would be passed these first-generation offspring with one another,
on to future generations. One such behavioral and he found that about three-quarters of the
change is for each female to drive other females resulting second-generation offspring had brown
of reproductive age away from her mate. This seeds and about one-quarter had white seeds.
strategy is particularly effective if a female will not Mendel repeated this experiment many times
copulate with a male until he has stayed with her with various pairs of dichotomous pea plant traits,
for a period of time. Once this pattern of behavior and each time the result was the same.
evolved in the females of a particular species, the ● dominant trait- appeared in all of the
optimal mating strategy for males would change. first-generation offspring; the other trait
It would become difficult for each male to bond ● recessive trait, appeared in about one-quarter of
with many females, and a male’s best chance of the second-generation offspring
producing many fit offspring would be for him to ● Phenotype- An organism’s observable traits
bond with a fit female and to put most of his ● Genotype- the traits that it can pass on to its
reproductive effort into her and their offspring offspring through its genetic material
● When it comes to living up to the ideal of ● Gene- each inherited factor
monogamy, we humans cannot compete with ● each organism possesses two genes for each of
many other species. its dichotomous traits
○ Geese, for example, once bonded, will never ○ for example, each pea plant possesses
mate with another partner either two brown-seed genes, two
white-seed genes, or one of each.
THINKING ABOUT EVOLUTIONARY ● Alleles- The two genes that control the same trait
PSYCHOLOGY ● Homozygous- Organisms that possess two
identical genes for a trait
● Theories that cannot be tested have little use ● heterozygous - possess two different genes for
● Men in most cultures value youth and a trait
attractiveness (both indicators of fertility) in their ● one of the two kinds of genes for each
mates more than women do; in contrast, women dichotomous trait dominates the other in
value power and earning capacity more than men heterozygous organisms
do ○ For example, pea plants with a brown-seed
● Physical attractiveness best predicts which gene and a white-seed gene always have
women will bond with men of high occupational brown seeds because the brown-seed gene
status. always dominates the white-seed gene
● The major mate-attraction strategy of women is ● for each dichotomous trait, each organism
increasing their physical attractiveness; in men, it randomly inherits one of its “father’s” two factors
is displaying their power and resources. and one of its “mother’s” two factors
● Men are more likely than women to commit
adultery.

FUNDAMENTAL GENETICS
 CHROMOSOMES

REPRODUCTION AND RECOMBINATION

● chromosomes—the threadlike structures in the
nucleus of each cell
● Chromosomes occur in matched pairs, and each
species has a characteristic number of pairs in
each of its body cells
● humans have 23 pairs
● The two genes (alleles) that control each trait are
situated at the same location, one on each
chromosome of a particular pair
● Meiosis- The process of cell division that
produces gametes (egg cells and sperm cells)
● In meiosis, the chromosomes divide, and one
chromosome of each pair goes to each of the two
gametes that results from the cell division
○ each gamete has only half the usual number
of chromosomes
● During the first stage of meiosis, the
chromosomes line up in their pairs. Then, the
members of each pair cross over one another at
random points, break apart at the points of
contact, and exchange sections
● Mitosis
○ Just prior to mitotic division, the number of
chromosomes doubles so that, when the cell
divides, both daughter cells end up with the ● replication is a critical process of the DNA
full complement of chromosomes. molecule
○ Without it, mitotic cell division would not be
STRUCTURE AND REPLICATION possible
● Each chromosome is a double-stranded molecule ○ The two strands of DNA start to unwind.
of deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) Then the exposed nucleotide bases on each
● Each strand is a sequence of nucleotide bases of the two strands attract their
attached to a chain of phosphate and complementary bases, which are floating in
deoxyribose the fluid of the nucleus. Thus, when the
● there are four nucleotide bases: adenine, unwinding is complete, two double-stranded
thymine, guanine, and cytosine DNA molecules, both of which are identical
○ It is the sequence of these bases on each to the original, have been created
chromosome that constitutes the genetic ● Chromosome replication does not always go
code according to plan; there may be errors
○ bonded together by the attraction of adenine ○ Down syndrome
for thymine and guanine for cytosin ● mutations—accidental alterations in individual
genes.
● In most cases, mutations disappear from the
gene pool within a few generations because the
 organisms that inherit them are less fit. However, ● The classic example of a recessive sex-linked
in rare instances, mutations increase fitness and trait is color blindness.
in so doing contribute to rapid evolution ○ Because the color-blindness gene is quite
rare, females almost never inherit two of
them and thus almost never possess the
disorder
○ in contrast, every male who possesses one
color-blindness gene is color blind
GENETIC CODE AND GENE EXPRESSION
● Proteins are long chains of amino acids
○ they control the physiological activities of
cells and are important components of
cellular structure
● All the cells in the body (e.g., brain cells, hair
cells, and bone cells) contain exactly the same
genes
● The stretches of DNA that lack structural genes
are not well understood, but it is clear that they
include portions called enhancers (or promoters).
○ Enhancers are stretches of DNA whose
function is to determine whether particular
structural genes initiate the synthesis of
proteins and at what rate
● The control of gene expression by enhancers is
an important process because it determines how
a cell will develop and how it will function once it
reaches maturity
● Enhancers are like switches because they can be
regulated in two ways:
○ They can be turned up
○ they can be turned down
● Proteins that bind to DNA and influence the
extent to which genes are expressed are called
transcription factors
SEX CHROMOSOMES AND SEX-LINKED ● The expression of a structural gene
TRAITS ○ the small section of the chromosome that
● autosomal chromosomes- typical contains the gene unravels, and the
chromosomes, which come in matched pairs unraveled section of one of the DNA
● sex chromosomes- the pair of chromosomes strands serves as a template for the
that determines an individual’s sex transcription of a short strand of ribonucleic
○ XX- female acid (rna).
○ XY- male ▪ RNA is like DNA except that it contains
● sex-linked traits- Traits influenced by genes on the nucleotide base uracil instead of
the sex chromosomes thymine and has a phosphate and
● Virtually all sex-linked traits are controlled by ribose backbone instead of a phosphate
genes on the X chromosome because the Y and deoxyribose backbone.
chromosome is small and carries few genes ▪ The strand of transcribed RNA is called
● If the trait is dominant, it occurs more frequently messenger rna because it carries the
in females. genetic code out of the nucleus of the
○ Females have twice the chance of inheriting cell
the dominant gene because they have twice ○ Once it has left the nucleus, the messenger
the number of X chromosomes RNA attaches itself to one of the many
● recessive sex-linked traits occur more frequently ribosomes in the cell’s cytoplasm (the clear
in males fluid within the cell).
○ The reason is that recessive sex-linked traits ○ The ribosome then moves along the strand
are manifested only in females who possess of messenger RNA, translating the genetic
two of the recessive genes—one on each of code as it proceeds
their X chromosomes—whereas the traits ● each group of three consecutive nucleotide
are manifested in all males who possess the bases along the messenger RNA strand is called
gene because they have only one X a codon
chromosome. ● Each kind of amino acid is carried to the
ribosome by molecules of transfer rna
● as the ribosome reads a codon, it attracts a proteins encoded for by our genes: the
transfer RNA molecule that is attached to the human proteome
appropriate amino acid. The ribosome reads ○ Many variations in the human genome
codon after codon and adds amino acid after related to particular diseases have been
amino acid until it reaches a codon that tells it the identified.
protein is complete, whereupon the completed MODERN GENETICS: GROWTH OF
protein is released into the cytoplasm. Thus, the EPIGENETICS
process of gene expression involves two phases: ● Epigenetics is often defined by what it is not: It is
the transcription of the DNA base-sequence code not what genetics had been prior to epigenetics’
to an RNA base-sequence code and the rise to prominence
translation of the RNA base-sequence code into ● Epigenetics is the study of all mechanisms of
a sequence of amino acids. inheritance other than the genetic code and its
expression.
● dna methylation is the reaction that occurs
when a methyl group attaches to a DNA
molecule, usually at cytosine sites in mammals
● histone remodeling is the reaction that occurs
when histones (proteins around which DNA is
coiled) change their shape and in so doing
influence the shape of the adjacent DNA
● Some epigenetic effects regulate gene
expression by acting on messenger RNA rather
than genes. This is called rna editing
● transgenerational epigenetics is a subfield of
epigenetics that examines the transmission of
experiences via epigenetic mechanisms across
generations

EPIGENETICS OF BEHAVIORAL
DEVELOPMENT: INTERACTION OF GENETIC
FACTORS AND EXPERIENCE
● ontogeny is the development of individuals over
their life span
● phylogeny is the evolutionary development of
species through the ages
SELECTIVE BREEDING OF “MAZE BRIGHT”
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT AND “MAZE DULL” RATS
● The Human Genome Project was motivated by ● You have already learned in this chapter that
potential medical applications. most early psychologists assumed that behavior
● It was assumed that once the human genome develops largely through learning
was described, it would be a relatively ● tryon began by training a large heterogeneous
straightforward matter to link variations in the group of laboratory rats to run a complex maze;
genome to particular human diseases and then the rats received a food reward when they
develop treatment and prevention programs reached the goal box
tailored to individual patients ○ Tryon then mated the females and males
● The Human Genome Project has changed our that least frequently entered incorrect alleys
understanding of ourselves and revolutionized during training—he referred to these rats as
the field of genetics maze-bright
● three major contributions of the Human Genome ○ And he bred the females and males that
Project: most frequently entered incorrect alleys
○ Many new techniques for studying DNA were during training—he referred to these rats as
developed during the Human Genome maze-dull
Project ● When the offspring of both the maze-bright and
○ The discovery that we humans, the most the maze-dull rats matured, their maze- learning
complex of all species, have relatively few performance was assessed.
genes surprised many scholars. ○ Then, the brightest of the maze-bright
▪ Humans have about 20,000 genes; mice offspring were mated with one another, as
have about the same number, and corn were the dullest of the maze-dull offspring.
has many more ○ This selective breeding procedure was
▪ Researchers have now generated a continued for 21 generations
nearly complete map of the entire set of
 ○ By the eighth generation, there was almost DEVELOPMENT OF BIRDSONG
no overlap in the maze-learning performance ● In the spring, the songs of male songbirds
of the two strains. threaten conspecific male trespassers and attract
○ With a few exceptions, the worst of the potential mates
maze-bright strain made fewer errors than ● The males of each species sing similar songs
the best of the maze-dull strain that are readily distinguishable from the songs of
● To control for the possibility that good other species, and there are recognizable local
maze-running performance was somehow being dialects within each species
passed from parent to offspring through learning, ● Studies of the ontogenetic development of
Tryon used a cross-fostering control birdsong suggest that this behavior develops in
procedure two phases
○ He tested maze-bright offspring that had 1. sensory phase, begins several days after
been reared by maze-dull parents and hatching
maze-dull offspring that had been reared by ○ Although the young birds do not sing
maze-bright parents. during this phase, they form memories
○ However, the offspring of maze-bright rats of the adult songs they hear—usually
made few errors even when they were sung by their own male relatives—that
reared by maze-dull rats, and the offspring of later guide the development of their own
maze-dull rats made many errors even when singing
they were reared by maze-bright rats ○ The young males of many songbird
● The pattern of differences suggested that the species are genetically prepared to
maze-bright rats were superior maze learners not acquire the songs of their own species
because they were more intelligent but because during the sensory phase
they were less fearful—a trait that is not adaptive ○ They cannot readily acquire the songs
in many natural environments of other species, nor can they acquire
● Selective-breeding studies have proved that the songs of their own species if they do
genes influence the development of behavior. not hear them during the sensory phase.
● This point was driven home by Cooper and ○ Males who do not hear the songs of
Zubek (1958) in a classic study of maze-bright their own species early in their lives may
and maze-dull rats later develop a song, but it is likely to be
● The researchers reared maze-bright and abnormal. The second phase of
maze-dull rats in one of two environments: (1) an birdsong
impoverished environment (a barren wire-mesh 2. sensorimotor phase, begins when the
group cage) or (2) an enriched environment (a juvenile males begin to twitter subsongs
wire-mesh group cage that contained tunnels, (the immature songs of young birds), usually
ramps, visual displays, and other objects when they are several months old
designed to stimulate interest). When the ○ During this phase, the rambling
maze-dull rats reached maturity, they made vocalizations of subsongs are gradually
significantly more errors than the maze-bright refined until they resemble the songs of
rats only if they had been reared in the the birds’ earlier adult tutors
impoverished environment ○ Auditory feedback is necessary for the
development of singing during the
PHENYLKETONURIA: A SINGLE-GENE sensorimotor phase; unless the young
METABOLIC DISORDER birds are able to hear themselves sing,
● It is often easier to understand the genetics of a their subsongs do not develop into adult
behavioral disorder than it is to understand the songs
genetics of normal behavior ○ However, once stable adult song has
○ The reason is that many genes influence the crystallized, songbirds are much less
development of a normal behavioral trait, but dependent on hearing for normal song
it sometimes takes only one abnormal gene production
to screw it up ● When it comes to the retention of their initial
● PKU (phenylketonuria) was discovered in 1934 crystallized adult songs, there are two common
when a Norwegian dentist, Asbjörn Fölling, patterns among songbird species
noticed a peculiar odor in the urine of his two 1. age-limited learners
intellectually disabled children ○ zebra finches and white-crowned
○ He correctly assumed that the odor was sparrows
related to their disorder, and he had their ○ in these species, adult songs, once
urine analyzed. High levels of crystallized, remain unchanged for the
phenylpyruvic acid were found in both rest of the birds’ lives
samples. 2. openended learners
● SRY CHECK THE BOOK NLNG HAHA PAGE 46 ○ they are able to add new songs to their
repertoire throughout their lives.
● descending motor pathway descends from the ● This chapter has focused on three topics: human
high vocal center on each side of the brain to the evolution, genetics, and the interaction of
syrinx (voice box) on the same side; it mediates genetics and experience through epigenetic
song production mechanisms
● The anterior forebrain pathway mediates song
learning DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALS VERSUS
● The canary song neural circuit is remarkable in DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENCES AMONG
three respects INDIVIDUALS
○ the left descending motor pathway plays a ● In the development of individuals, the effects of
more important role in singing than the right genes and experience are inseparable.
descending motor pathway (which duplicates ● In the development of differences among
the left-hemisphere dominance for language individuals, they are separable.
in humans ● monozygotic twins, who developed from the
○ the high vocal center is four times larger in same zygote and thus are genetically similar,
male canaries than in females ● dizygotic twins, who developed from two
○ each spring, as the male canary prepares its zygotes and thus are no more similar than any
new repertoire of songs for the summer pair of siblings (brothers and sisters)
seduction, the song-control structures of its ● Studies of pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic
brain double in size, only to shrink back in twins who have been separated at infancy by
the fall adoption are particularly informative about the
▪ This springtime burst of brain growth relative contributions of genetics and experience
and singing is triggered by elevated to differences in human psychological
levels of the hormone testosterone that development.
result from the increasing daylight
HERITABILITY ESTIMATES: MINNESOTA
STUDY OF TWINS REARED APART
● The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart
involved 59 pairs of monozygotic twins and 47
pairs of dizygotic twins who had been reared
apart as well as many pairs of monozygotic and
dizygotic twins who had been reared together
● In general, adult monozygotic twins were
substantially more similar to one another on all
psychological dimensions than were adult
dizygotic twins, whether or not both twins of a
pair were raised in the same family environment
● A heritability estimate is not about individual
development; it is a numerical estimate of the
proportion of variability that occurred in a
particular trait in a particular study as a result of
the genetic variation in that study
● PLS GO BACK TO THE BOOK HUHU PAGE 49
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE: TWO KINDS OF
TWIN STUDIES

TWIN STUDIES OF EPIGENETIC EFFECTS

● Most studies of epigenetic effects have focused
on nonhuman species.
● In plants and nonhuman animals, it is quite clear
that epigenetic changes can be triggered by
experience, can last a lifetime, and can be
passed on to future generations
● They found that the twins were epigenetically
indistinguishable early in life, but differences
accumulated as they aged, each type of tissue
displaying a different epigenetic profile
○ As a result, the former assumption that
monozygotic twins are genetically identical
GENETICS OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL was disproven, and the common practice of
DIFFERENCES referring to monozygotic twins as identical
twins should be curtailed
● In another study of epigenetic changes in twins,
Wong and colleagues (2010) examined DNA
methylation in buccal cells (cells of the lining of
the mouth) scraped from 46 pairs of monozygotic
twins and 45 pairs of dizygotic twins
○ Wong and colleagues found DNA
methylation to be prominent in both groups
of twins at both ages. Because the
concordance rates of DNA methylation were
the same between monozygotic and
between dizygotic twins, they concluded that
differences in DNA methylation are mainly a
consequence of experiential factors.
● The discovery of epigenetic differences in
monozygotic twins raises the possibility that
epigenetic differences may explain why one twin
develops a disease and the other doesn't
● disease- discordant monozygotic twin studies
○ begins with the identification of monozygotic
twins who are discordant for the disease of
interest
○ Then one searches each pair for epigenetic
differences focusing on those areas of DNA
that are thought to be involved in the
disorder
○ Large-scale studies in monozygotic twins
across different ages, tissues, and epigenetic
effects could greatly improve our
understanding of human disease

TWIN STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF

EXPERIENCE ON HERITABILITY
● Turkheimer and colleagues assessed heritability
of intelligence in two samples of 7-year-old twins:
those from families of low socioeconomic status
(SES) and those from families of middle to high
SES
● The heritability estimates for intelligence in the
middle- to high-SES twins was, as expected,
about 70 percent.
● However, the heritability estimate for intelligence
in the twins from low-SES families was only 10
percent. This effect was subsequently replicated
and extended to other age groups: babies
● One major implication of this finding is that it
forces one to think of intelligence as developing
from the interaction of genes and experience, not
from one or the other.
● It seems that one can inherit the potential to be
of superior intelligence, but this potential is rarely
realized in a poverty-stricken environment
● This finding also has important implications for
the development of programs to help the poor.
Many politicians have argued against special
programs for the poor because most heritability
estimates of intelligence are high. They
incorrectly argue that because intelligence is
inherited, special programs for the poor are a
waste of money. However, the findings of
Turkheimer and colleagues suggest otherwise:
Reducing poverty would permit many of the poor
to develop their genetic potentia