2.2 Biological Level of Analysis: Genetics and Behavior

Behavioral Genetics  How genetics and the environment contribute to individual variations in human behavior.  How much do genes influence behavior?  Diathesis-stress model “genetic vulnerability”  Inheritance

Genetic Research  Correlational Studies: Establishes that a relationship between two variables exists, but no IV is manipulated. No cause-and-effect is determined.  Twin Studies: High level of shared genes. Monozygotic (MZ): Identical twins, from same egg that splits. Dizygotic (DZ): non-identical, from two eggs Concordance rate: degree of correlation found

 Family Studies: more representative sample Degrees of genetic relatedness compared with behavior. High heridability = High concordance rates

 Adoption Studies Nature vs. Nurture Why are these cases interesting when studying genetic behavior? Criticisms:  Children not representative of general population  Selective placement

Intelligence  Is IQ inherited or result of environment?  Why was The Bell Curve controversial?  Explain Spearman’s concept of g(intelligence)?

Research on Intelligence  Bouchard and McGue (1981) Meta-Analysis: combining data from similar studies to yield a quantitative summary of pooled results. Findings? Minnesota Twin Study  Findings? Heritability?  Criticisms?

 Scarr and Weinberg (1977)- Parents with adopted and natural children Findings? Were socio-economic factors important?  Less Effort Hypothesis  How important are socio-economic factors in determining intelligence?  Explain why scores seem to be increasing world-wide for the last century?

Evolution  Charles Darwin  Natural Selection Adaptation  Chimp Study: Matsuzawa (2007) Do his study results support Darwin?

Evolutionary Psychology  What is this field attempting to do?  Explain Fessler’s 2006 study on disgust and pregnancy. What are its implications?  How about Curtis (2004) Findings Implications  Points to consider

Ethics in Genetics Research  Stigmatization  Confidentiality Coding information  Harmful personal information Paternity Genetic disorders  Cultural objections