Personality Psychology Exam 2 - Vocab Chapter 6

Front 1

Active Genotype–Environment Correlation

Back 1

Occurs when a person with a particular genotype creates or seeks out a particular environment.

Front 2

Adoption Studies

Back 2

Studies that examine the correlations between adopted children and their adoptive parents, with whom they share no genes. These correlations are then compared tothe correlations between the adopted children and their genetic parents, who had no influence on the environments of the children. Differences in these correlations can indicate the relative magnitudeof genetic and environment contributions to personality traits.

Front 3

DRD4 Gene

Back 3

A gene which codes for a protein called a dopamine receptor, which responds tothe presence of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The most frequently examined association between the DRD4 gene and a personality trait involves novelty seeking, or the tendency to seek out new experiences; especially those considered to be risky.

Front 4

Dizygotic (DZ) Twins

Back 4

(fraternal twins) Twins who are not genetically identical. They come from two eggs thatwere separately fertilized. Such twins share only 50 percent of their genes with their co-twin, the same amount as ordinary brothers and sisters. Fraternal twins can be of the same sex or of the opposite sex.

Front 5

Eugenics

Back 5

The notion that the future of the human race can be influenced by promoting the reproduction of those with desirable traits, and discouraging reproduction among those who have undesirable traits.

Front 6

Environmentality

Back 6

The percentage of variance in a group of individuals that can be attributed to environmental differences. Generally speaking: the larger the heritability, the smaller the environmentality and the smaller the heritability, the larger the environmentality.

Front 7

Environmentalist View

Back 7

Environmentalists believe that personality is determined by socialization practices, such as parenting style and other agents of society.

Front 8

Equal Environments Assumption

Back 8

The assumption that the environments experienced by identical twins are no moresimilar to each other than are the environments experienced by fraternal twins. If they are more similar, then the greater similarity of the identical twins could be due to the fact that they experience more similar environments rather than the fact that they have more genes in common.

Front 9

Family Studies

Back 9

Family studies correlate the degree of genetic overlap among family members with the degree of personality similarity.

Front 10

Genetic Junk

Back 10

The 98 percent of the DNA in human chromosomes that are not coding genes; scientists once believed that these parts were functionless “junk”, however recent studies have shown that these portions of DNA may affect everything from aperson’s physical size to personality.

Front 11

Genome

Back 11

The complete set of genes an organism possesses. The human genome contains somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 genes.

Front 12

Genotype–Environment Interaction

Back 12

The differential response of individuals with different genotypes to the same environments.

Front 13

Genotype–Environment Correlation

Back 13

The differential exposure of individuals with different genotypes to different environments.

Front 14

Genotypic Variance

Back 14

Genetic variance that is responsible for individual differences in the phenotypic expression of specific traits.

Front 15

Heritability

Back 15

A statistic that refers to the proportion of observed variance in a group of individuals that can be explained or “accounted for” by genetic variance. The formal definition of heritability is: The proportion of phenotypic variance that is attributable to genotypic variance.

Front 16

Molecular Genetics

Back 16

Techniques designed to identify the specific genes associated with specific traits, such as personality traits. The association method (most common) identifies whether individuals with a particular gene have higher or lower scores on a particular trait measure.

Front 17

Monozygotic (MZ) Twins

Back 17

Identical twins that come from a single fertilized egg (zygote) that divides into two at some point during gestation. Identical twins are always the same sex because they are genetically identical.

Front 18

Nature-Nurture Debate

Back 18

The ongoing debate as to whether genes or environment are more important determinants of personality.

Front 19

Non-Shared Environmental Influences

Back 19

Features of the environment that siblings do not share. These features are called “non-shared” because they are experienced differently by different siblings.

Examples: some children might get special or different treatment from their parents, they might have different groups of friends, they might be sent to different schools, or one might go to summer camp while the other stays home each summer.

Front 20

Passive Genotype–Environment Correlation

Back 20

Occurs when parents provide both genes and environment to children, yet the children do nothing to obtain that environment.

Front 21

Percentage of Variance

Back 21

Individuals vary or are different from each other, and this variability can be divided into percentages that are related to separate causes or separate variables.

Example: the percentages of variance in some trait that are related to genetics, the shared environment, and the unshared environment.

Example: the percentage of variance in happiness scores that are related to various demographic variables, such as income, gender, and age.

Front 22

Phenotypic Variance

Back 22

Observed individual differences, such as in height, weight, or personality.

Front 23

Reactive Genotype–Environment Correlation

Back 23

Occurs when parents (or others) respond to children differently depending on their genotype.

Front 24

Selective Breeding

Back 24

One method of behavior genetic research. The process of identifying a trait and selectively breeding for the purpose of passing on that trait. This can occur only if the trait has a genetic basis. Traits that are based on learning cannot be selectively bred for.

Front 25

Selective Placement

Back 25

If adopted children are placed with adoptive parents who are similar to their birth parents, this may inflate the correlations between the adopted children and their adoptive parents. In this case, the resulting inflated correlations would artificially inflate estimates of environmental influence because thecorrelation would appear to be due to the environment provided by the adoptive parent. There does not seem to be selective placement, and so this potential problem is not a problem in actual studies.

Front 26

Shared Environmental Influences

Back 26

Features of the environment that siblings share.

Example: the number of books inthe home, the presence or absence of a TV, food in the home, or the values and attitudes of parents.

Front 27

Twin Studies

Back 27

Twin studies estimate heritability by measuring whether identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, are more similar to each other than fraternal twins, who share only 50 percent of their genes.