Chapter 2 Mypsychlab

Front 1

Zeitgeist

Back 1

the general intellectual climate of a culture

Front 2

Spandrels

Back 2

Nonadaptive characteristics that evolve because they are related to evolutionary changes that are adaptive

Front 3

Evolve

Back 3

to gradually undergo change

Front 4

Hominins

Back 4

the family of primates tha includes homo sapiens, homo erectus, and australopihecus

Front 5

Analgous

Back 5

Having a similar structure because of convergent evolution (bird's and bee's wing)

Front 6

Monogomy

Back 6

A pattern of mate bonding in which one male and one female form and enduring bond

Front 7

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Back 7

A neurological disorder whose symptoms are vomiting, seizures, hyperactivity, hyperiritabilitty, retardation, brain damage, and high levels of phenylpyruvic acid in the urine

Front 8

Chordates

Back 8

Animals with dorsal nerve chords

Front 9

Phenylpyruvic acid

Back 9

A substance that is found in abnormally high concentrations in the urine of those suffering from phenylketonuria

Front 10

Epigenetics

Back 10

A field of research that focuses on factors that influence the expression of genes

Front 11

Phylogeny

Back 11

the evolutionary development of a species

Front 12

Polygyny

Back 12

a pattern of mate bonding in which one male bonds with more than one female; the most prevalent pattern of mate bonding in mammals

Front 13

Sensory phase

Back 13

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

Front 14

Ethology

Back 14

the study of the behavior of animals in their natural environments

Front 15

Nature-Nurture issue

Back 15

the debate about the relative contributions of nature (genes) and nurture (experience) to the behavioral capacities of individuals

Front 16

Convergent evolution

Back 16

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

Front 17

Amphibians

Back 17

species that spend their larval phase in water and their adult phase on land

Front 18

Species

Back 18

a group of organisms that is reproductively isolated from other organisms; the members of on species cannot produce fertile offspring by mating with members of another species

Front 19

Asomatognosia

Back 19

A deficiency in the awareness of parts of one's own body hat is typically produces by damage to the parietal lobe

Front 20

Polyandry

Back 20

A pattern of mate bonding in which one female bonds with more than one male (seahorses)

Front 21

Natural Selection

Back 21

the idea that heritable traits that are associated with high rates of survival and reproduction are preferentially passed on to future generations

Front 22

Cognitive map theory

Back 22

the theory that the main function of the hippocampus is to store memories of spatial location

Front 23

Convolutions

Back 23

folds on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres

Front 24

Conspecifics

Back 24

members of the same species

Front 25

Fitness

Back 25

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

Front 26

Ontogyny

Back 26

the development of individuals over their life span

Front 27

Monozygotic twins

Back 27

Idenditcal twins; twins that develop from the same zygote and are thus genetically identical

Front 28

Heritability estimate

Back 28

A numerical estimate of the proportion of variability that occurred in a particular trait in a particular study that resulted from the genetic variation among the subjects in that study

Front 29

Mammals

Back 29

Species whose young are fed from mammary glands

Front 30

Instinctive behaviors

Back 30

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

Front 31

Sensitive period

Back 31

the period during the development of a particular trait, usually in early life, when a particular experience is likely to change the course of that development

Front 32

Brain Stem

Back 32

the part of the brain on which the cerebral hemispheres res; in general, it regulates reflex activities that are critical for survival (e.g. heart rate and respiration).

Front 33

Cartesian dualism

Back 33

the philosophical position of Rene Descartes who argued that the universe is comeposed of two elements: physical matter and the human mind

Front 34

Primates

Back 34

One of 14 different orders of mammals; there are five families of primates: prosimians, New-World Monkeys, Old-world Monkeys, apes, and hominids

Front 35

Vertebrates

Back 35

Chordates that possess spinal bones

Front 36

Dizygotic twins

Back 36

Fraternal twins; twins that develop from two zygotes and thus tend to be as genetically similar as any pair of siblings

Front 37

Exaptation

Back 37

A characteristic that evolved because it performed one function but was later co-opted to perform another

Front 38

Homologous

Back 38

Having a similar structure because of a common evolutionary origin (bat wing and human arm)

Front 39

Cerebrum

Back 39

the portion of the brain that sits on the brain stem; in general, it plays a role in complex adaptive processes (e.g., learning, perception, and motivation)

Front 40

Sensorimotor phase

Back 40

the second of the two phases of bird song development during which juvenile birds progress from subsongs to adult songs