Deck 9: Genetics and Evolution: the Inheritance of Personality

Question 1

Which of the following attributes seems to have the lowest heritability coefficient?

A) phobias
B) alcoholism
C) extraversion
D) depression

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Jacob and Ashley have the same father but have different mothers. About how much genetic material do they share?

A) 0
B) .125
C) .25
D) .50

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Monozygotic (MZ) twins share ________ percent of the genes that vary across individuals, and dizygotic (DZ) twins share, on average, ________ percent of the genes that vary across individuals.

A) 50; 25
B) 90; 10
C) 50; 100
D) 100; 50

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The notion that humans could be improved through selective breeding is called

A) eugenics.
B) cloning.
C) behavioral Darwinism.
D) heritability.

Question 5

When personality psychologists measure trait differences in extraversion, what kinds of direct observations are they making?

A) phenotypic
B) genotypic
C) allelic
D) genome-wide

Question 6

What is the correct formula for calculating heritability?

A) 2 (r_MZ - r_DZ)
B) 2 - (r_MZ - r_DZ)
C) 2 + (r_MZ -r_DZ)
D) 2 (r_DZ - r_MZ)

Question 7

What might explain the difference in heritability coefficients between twin and non-twin studies?

A) increased measurement error in non-twin studies
B) the presence of interactive genetic effects
C) the greater statistical power of twin studies
D) the rarity of non-twin studies

Question 8

A scientist who studies how patterns of behavior characteristic of the entire human species originated because of the survival value they had for our ancestors is called a(n)

A) evolutionary psychologist.
B) behavioral geneticist.
C) heritability scientist.
D) behavioral Darwinist.

Question 9

Heritability estimates based on twin studies are likely ________, while heritability estimates based on broader family relationships are likely ________.

A) overestimated; underestimated
B) underestimated; overestimate
C) more accurate; less accurate
D) less accurate; more accurate

Question 10

Which of the following explanations is a correct statement regarding the shared genetic material between a mother and her child?

A) A mother only shares 25 percent of her genetic material with her child.
B) The shared genetic material between mother and child is higher for monozygotic twins relative to dizygotic twins.
C) A mother shares 50 percent of her genetic material with her child.
D) A mother shares 50 percent of the genetic material that varies across individuals.

Question 11

If the correlation between the shyness of a sample of dizygotic twin pairs is .25 and the correlation between the shyness of a sample of monozygotic twin pairs is .50, then the heritability coefficient for shyness is

A) .125.
B) .250.
C) .500.
D) 2.00.

Question 12

According to the text, biology will NEVER be able to explain

A) which brain structures are associated with depression.
B) how people act in their daily social environments.
C) how likely it is for schizophrenia to be passed down from mother to child.
D) the influence increased serotonin has on changes in behavior.

Question 13

The presence of schizophrenia was measured in both monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. The correlation between the MZ twins was .50 and the correlation between the DZ twins was .30. What is the heritability coefficient for schizophrenia?

A) .80
B) .20
C) .40
D) .65

Question 14

Behavioral genetics, like trait psychology, focuses on aspects of personality that ________, whereas evolutionary psychology more typically focuses on aspects of personality that ________.

A) all humans share; differ from one individual to another
B) vary among groups of individuals; vary among individuals
C) differ from one individual to another; all humans share
D) are species specific; are individual specific

Question 15

If a trait is influenced by genes, then it ought to be more highly correlated across pairs of ________ than across pairs of ________.

A) genetic siblings; fraternal twins
B) fraternal twins; identical twins
C) identical twins; fraternal twins
D) adoptive siblings; genetic siblings

Question 16

The ________ refers to the underlying genetic structure that leads to the observable ________.

A) phenotype; genogram
B) genotype; phenotype
C) phenotype; genotype
D) genetic map; genetic architecture

Question 17

The MOST controversial thing that has arisen from the study of behavioral genetics is that it has led to

A) ideas such as eugenics and cloning.
B) the chance that the public will think criminality is unchangeable.
C) heated debates between behavioral geneticists and evolutionary psychologists.
D) the chance that the public will think twins are the same in every way.

Question 18

According to estimates based on twin studies, the average heritability coefficient of many traits of personality is about ________ when using self-reports of personality.

A) .20
B) .40
C) .80
D) 1.0

Question 19

The field of study that attempts to explain how individual differences in behavior (i.e., personality traits) are shared by biological relatives is called

A) evolutionary biology.
B) behavioral genetics.
C) heritability science.
D) behavioral Darwinism.

Question 20

According to studies of non-twin relatives, the average heritability coefficient for most traits is about

A) .20.
B) .40.
C) .60.
D) .80.

Question 21

What term refers to different forms of the same gene?

A) chromosome
B) genotype
C) allele
D) nucleotide

Question 22

Which factor below would be part of the so-called nonshared environment?

A) family social-economic status
B) genetic attributes
C) different friendships for siblings
D) general parenting styles

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT indicated by a heritability statistic?

A) whether genetic factors play some role in shaping individual differences
B) whether the etiology of certain conditions such as mental retardation is environmental
C) whether genes and environments interact to produce behavior
D) how much variability in a trait is due to nonshared environmental factors

Question 24

A scientist interested in understanding how early experiences shape genetic expression studies

A) eugenetics.
B) ontogenetics.
C) epigenetics.
D) genome-wide associations.

Question 25

A high heritability coefficient can result when the trait ________ across individuals or when genes are important in a(n) ________ sense.

A) does not vary; very limited
B) varies greatly; absolute
C) varies greatly; very limited
D) does not vary; absolute

Question 26

Henry and Adam are identical twins. According to a study conducted by Bokenau and colleagues, similar levels of which trait are NOT likely to be influenced by their shared environment?

A) extraversion
B) neuroticism
C) openness
D) agreeableness

Question 27

When Brett was born, he and his identical twin were separated and have been living on opposite sides of the country ever since in houses of equal socioeconomic status yet with parents employing drastically different parenting styles. Which of the following are Brett and his twin MOST likely to share?

A) a sense of rebelliousness
B) level of anxiety
C) IQ score
D) music preference

Question 28

Linda suffers from depression, whereas her brother Kyle is more emotionally stable. Which of the following genes is likely to differ between Kyle and Linda?

A) DRD4
B) SSRI
C) 5-HTT
D) APOA

Question 29

Bryan has just been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). His sister Sarah has never been diagnosed with ADHD. Which of the following genes might differ between Bryan and Sarah?

A) DRD4
B) SSRI
C) 5-HTT
D) APOA

Question 30

A(n) ________ searches for specific genes that are linked with particular personality attributes.

A) epigenetic scan
B) epigenetic association study
C) allelic frequency study
D) genome-wide association study

Question 31

It is difficult to calculate the heritability of traits that

A) develop later in adulthood.
B) do not vary across people.
C) are highly affected by one's environment.
D) are highly affected by one's genes.

Question 32

Which of the following is true about gene-environment interactions and trait expression?

A) If two individuals have the same behaviors of a trait, they must share the same gene for that trait.
B) If two individuals share the same gene for a trait, they must have the same behaviors of that trait.
C) If two individuals have the same behaviors of a trait, they must share the same gene for that trait, but two individuals can share the same gene for the trait and have differing behaviors of that trait.
D) Two individuals can have the same gene for a trait and have differing behaviors of that trait, and two individuals can have the same behaviors of but have differing genes for the trait.

Question 33

What behavioral genetic research finding seems to support the conclusion that the effect of growing up in the same home environment is rather minimal?

A) The personality traits of monozygotic (MZ) twins are correlated at .50 on average.
B) The personality traits of dizygotic (DZ) twins are correlated at .30 on average.
C) The personality traits of adoptive siblings raised in the same family are correlated
Around .05.
D) The personality traits of adoptive siblings raised in the same family are correlated
Above .25.

Question 34

What is the scientific benefit of knowing a trait's heritability coefficient?

A) the variance in a trait that is due to genetic influences
B) the degree to which genetic influences in a trait are due to inheritance
C) the degree to which reliable genetic effects are statistically significant
D) the degree to which genetic effects will replicate in an additional sample

Question 35

How might a behavior geneticist explain the statistically significant finding that television watching is heritable?

A) There is an active gene that causes individuals to watch TV.
B) There are related heritable propensities, such as sensation seeking or lethargy, that might lead one to watch TV more often.
C) Individuals form TV watching habits if they grow up with parents who often watch TV.
D) Parents encourage their children to watch TV because of its inherent tendency to keep them well-informed about the world around them, which helps secure their reproductive success.

Question 36

As a result of Timothy's genes, he went through puberty later than his peers. Because he was much smaller than the other boys they tended to pick on him, and he fought back to protect himself. As a young adult, Timothy is more aggressive than his peers. This scenario illustrates that his aggression is

A) completely the result of his genetic inheritance.
B) completely the result of his early social environment.
C) the result of an interaction between the genetic expression and the resulting social environment.
D) the result of his social environment in adulthood because genes cannot affect behavior in adulthood.

Question 37

In the past, some psychologists have concluded that shared family environments have little or no effect on personality development. Recent research has cast doubt on such conclusions by finding that

A) molecular geneticists identified the specific alleles associated with each of the Big Five personality traits.
B) the shared family environment actually has a larger effect on personality than does the shared nonfamily environment (e.g., school).
C) the shared environment was related to certain aspects of personality when personality was measured through direct behavioral observation.
D) the shared environment was related to personality when personality was measured through self-report data.

Question 38

In which sample would you expect the heritability of IQ to be the lowest?

A) low socioeconomic status twins
B) middle socioeconomic status twins
C) high socioeconomic status twins
D) none of the above; the heritability will be the same in all three groups

Question 39

If there is no phenotypic variation in a trait, then the heritability of that trait will be approximately

A) 1.0.
B) .50.
C) .25.
D) 0.

Question 40

A recent study indicates that a serotonin-related genetic allele seems to influence the development of depression in conjunction with

A) stressful life events.
B) high neuroticism.
C) low extraversion.
D) childhood maltreatment.

Question 41

What is the major difference between molecular genetics studies and genome-wide association studies?

A) Genome-wide studies test for individual genes only, whereas traditional molecular genetics studies test many different genes.
B) Genome-wide studies test individual genes as well as patterns of genes, whereas traditional molecular genetics studies only test individual genes.
C) Genome-wide studies test patterns of genes only, whereas traditional molecular genetics studies test both individual genes and patterns of genes.
D) Both genome-wide studies and traditional molecular genetics studies test patterns of genes and individual genes.

Question 42

The idea that feelings of self-esteem evolved to gauge social acceptance is known as the ________ theory.

A) sociometer
B) social self
C) social self-acceptance
D) self-esteem as survival

Question 43

Which of the following is a legitimate reason why genome-wide association studies are still not conducted very frequently?

A) They are extremely time-consuming and expensive.
B) It is still difficult to determine environmental effects on the genes.
C) The method is still too new to be accurate.
D) Early results have not been very promising.

Question 44

A researcher interested in predicting patterns of helping behavior using the concept of inclusive fitness would want to know

A) how strongly helping behavior in biological parents correlates with helping behavior in their offspring.
B) how much genetic material you share with someone you might help.
C) the similarity between adopted siblings on measures of helping behavior.
D) monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) correlations for helping behavior.

Question 45

According to the text, we can be 100 percent certain that all of our ancestors have done which of the following?

A) had successful careers
B) received adequate education
C) had children
D) lived to old age

Question 46

Darwin's book The Origin of Species is one of the basic foundations for which area of psychology?

A) psychoanalysis
B) personality psychology
C) behavioral genetics
D) evolutionary psychology

Question 47

Which of the following explains how Keller and Nesse's evolutionary explanation for negative emotions (e.g., depression) differs from Leary's sociometer theory?

A) Negative emotions help signal your social standing in your community.
B) Negative emotions are a by-product of the evolution of positive emotions.
C) Negative emotions help motivate us to avoid bad outcomes in the future.
D) Negative emotions help solicit social support from others in the community.

Question 48

Which of the following types of studies is the MOST recently developed method for understanding the roles of genes in determining our behavior?

A) twin studies
B) molecular genetics studies
C) genome-wide association studies
D) adoption studies

Question 49

Rachel's girlfriend just broke up with her. According to a recent study about types of depression, the particular kind of depression Rachel will MOST likely experience is characterized by

A) emotional pain, crying, and seeking social support.
B) aggression, hostility, and anger.
C) fatigue, pessimism, and guilt.
D) sexual dysfunction, increased cortisol, and increased motor activity.

Question 50

According to evolutionary psychology, which of the following does NOT account for individual differences?

A) Certain levels of maladaptive traits such as neuroticism ensure that populations are not so excessively large that it threatens the survival of the group.
B) Behavioral patterns evolve as reactions to specific environmental experiences (and if different individuals inhabit different environments, they will then exhibit different behavioral patterns).
C) Individuals differ in terms of the behavioral strategies that make the most sense, given their other characteristics.
D) Some biologically influenced behavior may be "frequency dependent" (only appearing in some subset of the population).

Question 51

According to evolutionary biology, altruistic behavior might help assure the survival of one's own genes into succeeding generations primarily because

A) altruistic individuals take fewer risks than nonaltruistic individuals, so they are more likely to survive and produce children.
B) altruistic people tend to attract more mates, thereby increasing the likelihood that altruistic people will reproduce.
C) some of your genes will make it into the next generation if the people who share your genes also survive.
D) altruism promotes physical health and longevity.

Question 52

Which of the following groups of people are MOST likely to have a slow life history?

A) parents who have only one child
B) traditional hunter-gatherer societies
C) a community living during a war or plague
D) individuals growing up in a dangerous neighborhood and who have no employment prospects

Question 53

Which of the following accurately describes inclusive fitness?

A) Inclusive fitness is the idea that self-sacrificing behaviors can still be evolutionarily advantageous if they help the survival of others that share your genes.
B) Inclusive fitness is the idea that negative emotions or feelings may actually be helpful because they act as a motivator to avoid bad outcomes in the future.
C) Inclusive fitness is the idea that certain traits that have evolved in the past may not necessarily be useful or may even be detrimental to survival today.
D) Inclusive fitness states that individual differences in traits and behaviors are a required mechanism for evolution to occur.

Question 54

What is the biggest reason why cloning one's personality will never be feasible?

A) Meeting your clone would be too confusing to process.
B) Personality is the result of a complex interaction between one's genes and environment.
C) The government has refused to fund any research on cloning.
D) Our understanding of the genetic basis of personality is far too limited to know which genes are related to specific personality traits.

Question 55

Which of the below best describes the future of behavioral genetics according to the text?

A) the further documenting of the fact that genes have important influences on personality
B) the further understanding of the ways in which personality traits have evolved over time
C) the further understanding of gene-environment correlations and interactions
D) the future understanding of the interaction between the current social structure and evolved mechanisms

Question 56

Which of the following accurately describes evolutionary mismatch?

A) Evolutionary mismatch is the idea that self-sacrificing behaviors can still be evolutionarily advantageous if they help the survival of others that share your genes.
B) Evolutionary mismatch is the idea that negative emotions or feelings may actually be helpful because they act as a motivator to avoid bad outcomes in the future.
C) Evolutionary mismatch is the idea that certain traits that have evolved in the past may not be useful or may even be detrimental to survival today.
D) Evolutionary mismatch states that individual differences in traits and behaviors are a required mechanism for evolution to occur.

Question 57

So far, evolutionary psychology has been much more concerned with the origins of ________ than with ________.

A) unconscious processes; conscious processes
B) extraversion and agreeableness; neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness
C) neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness; extraversion and agreeableness
D) general human nature; individual differences

Question 58

Harry was just fired from his job. According to a recent study, the particular kind of depression that will MOST likely follow is characterized by

A) emotional pain, crying, and seeking social support.
B) aggression, hostility, and anger.
C) fatigue, pessimism, and guilt.
D) sexual dysfunction, increased cortisol, and increased motor activity.

Question 59

What might be the evolutionary function of crying, according to recent research described in the text?

A) a way to elicit social support
B) an aversive motivator of behavioral change toward more adaptive pursuits
C) an index of social acceptance
D) a way of preventing wasteful energy expenditures on lost causes

Question 60

What explanation might an evolutionary psychologist give for an individual giving a large amount of money to charity?

A) In our current social environment, people who give money to charity are regarded as noble and are therefore attractive.
B) People are basically selfless beings who give for the sake of giving.
C) Giving to charity increases our self-esteem, which is an indicator of our social acceptance.
D) Giving to charity satisfies our basic instinct to balance the social scales.

Question 61

Match each rebuttal with its associated stress test of evolutionary psychology.

-Human flexibility

A)Evolution of a cerebral cortex enables humans to have the ability to overcome innate urges.
B)It is not necessary for people to be consciously aware of what evolutionary theory says is required for reproductive success.
C)For any theoretical proposal in science, alternative explanations are always possible.
D)The differences between men and women in mate selection and other behaviors are built-in through biological evolution.
E)Evolutionary psychologists are not concerned with the moral justification or condemnation of any one aspect of the human psyche.

Question 62

According to the Eagly and Wood's social-structure theory, why are women more likely to value wealth and power in a mate over their physical appearance?

A) Due to their superior strength, men typically hold positions of power and dominance in today's society.
B) Women have evolved to value how well their mates will be able to provide for them and their offspring.
C) Women are attracted to men who will buy them expensive objects.
D) Women are attracted to men who are careful and responsible.

Question 63

Match each rebuttal with its associated stress test of evolutionary psychology.

-Conservative bias

A)Evolution of a cerebral cortex enables humans to have the ability to overcome innate urges.
B)It is not necessary for people to be consciously aware of what evolutionary theory says is required for reproductive success.
C)For any theoretical proposal in science, alternative explanations are always possible.
D)The differences between men and women in mate selection and other behaviors are built-in through biological evolution.
E)Evolutionary psychologists are not concerned with the moral justification or condemnation of any one aspect of the human psyche.

Question 64

The debate between evolutionary theories on sex differences and Eagly and Wood's theory on social structure is comparable to the ________ versus________ debate.

A) biological reductionism; evolutionary reductionism
B) nature; nurture
C) "dilemma of the rarely exercised option"; "just so" stories
D) epigenetics; behavioral genetics

Question 65

All of the following are objections to evolutionary theorizing EXCEPT evolutionary

A) theorizing consists of after-the-fact speculations that cannot be put to empirical test.
B) theorists assume that everybody wants many children when, in fact, many people limit their own reproduction.
C) theorists assume that behavior patterns present today are essentially inevitable and unchangeable because they are rooted in our biology.
D) theory is unnecessarily complicated because it involves too many basic principles.

Question 66

Much of the world is changing toward a setting where physical strength matters less and alternative child-care arrangements are possible. The view that men's and women's behavioral tendencies are determined by social structure implies that

A) their behavioral tendencies will change over thousands of years.
B) their behavioral tendencies will change relatively quickly (over hundreds of years).
C) their behavioral tendencies will probably never change.
D) men will primarily adopt child-rearing duties and women will primarily adopt the duties of rulers and warriors.

Question 67

Match each rebuttal with its associated stress test of evolutionary psychology.

-Reproductive instinct

A)Evolution of a cerebral cortex enables humans to have the ability to overcome innate urges.
B)It is not necessary for people to be consciously aware of what evolutionary theory says is required for reproductive success.
C)For any theoretical proposal in science, alternative explanations are always possible.
D)The differences between men and women in mate selection and other behaviors are built-in through biological evolution.
E)Evolutionary psychologists are not concerned with the moral justification or condemnation of any one aspect of the human psyche.

Question 68

What is a "stress test" in regard to evolutionary psychology?

A) an example of a person-environment interaction
B) a type of "inclusive fitness"
C) a focus on negative emotions, such as stress
D) a challenge or critique of the evolutionary approach that it must overcome

Question 69

What is a common methodological concern of evolutionary psychology?

A) The methods used are too qualitative.
B) Evolutionary psychologists do not employ the scientific method.
C) All the theories of evolutionary psychology are too difficult or even possible to empirically test.
D) Evolutionary psychology is too heavily influenced by anthropology.

Question 70

In contrast to evolutionary theorizing, Eagly and Wood (1999) suggest that

A) societies' norms reflect men's greater size and strength and women's role in childbearing more than biologically hardwired behavioral tendencies.
B) social norms are shaped by evolutionary forces and therefore are impossible to change.
C) social norms regarding child care vary dramatically from one culture to the next.
D) the great diversity of gender roles across cultures undermines evolutionary perspectives.

Question 71

If Sally believes that anything natural is morally acceptable, she is committing a(n) ________ fallacy.

A) naturalistic
B) reductionistic
C) justificationist
D) evolutionary

Question 72

Match each rebuttal with its associated stress test of evolutionary psychology.

-Methodology

A)Evolution of a cerebral cortex enables humans to have the ability to overcome innate urges.
B)It is not necessary for people to be consciously aware of what evolutionary theory says is required for reproductive success.
C)For any theoretical proposal in science, alternative explanations are always possible.
D)The differences between men and women in mate selection and other behaviors are built-in through biological evolution.
E)Evolutionary psychologists are not concerned with the moral justification or condemnation of any one aspect of the human psyche.

Question 73

There are controversies related to evolutionary theorizing with respect to the difficulty in providing an evolutionary explanation to rare behaviors. This has been called the

A) low base rate fallacy.
B) dilemma of the rarely exercised option.
C) spurious causation fallacy.
D) naturalistic fallacy.

Question 74

A common critique of evolutionary psychology is that it focuses too much on instinctual behavior patterns. Which of the following explanations is NOT used as evidence for this critique?

A) Human behavior is flexible, and people can adapt to changing environments.
B) Much of human behavior is modular.
C) A wide range of individual differences influences behavior.
D) Humans have evolved higher-order thinking over time to overcome their innate tendencies.

Question 75

Which of the following is a NOT a common methodological concern of evolutionary psychology?

A) All theories lack experimental evidence.
B) Many of the theories are "just so" explanations that ignore other possibilities.
C) Many of the theories are difficult to disprove.
D) Many of the theories do not account for individual differences.

Question 76

Which of the following is an example of the "conservative bias" for which evolutionary psychology is often criticized?

A) The methods of evolutionary psychology are too qualitative.
B) Evolutionary psychologists do not employ the scientific method.
C) The theories of evolutionary psychology are too difficult or even impossible to empirically test.
D) Evolutionary psychology is too heavily influenced by anthropology.

Question 77

Which of the following is NOT an assumption of evolutionary psychology?

A) Behavioral patterns developed because they were helpful or necessary for survival.
B) The current behavioral order was inevitable and unchangeable in the short term.
C) Our primary goal is ensuring our reproductive success as well as the reproductive success of our offspring.
D) Certain social influences enable individuals to dictate when their reproductive instincts are present.

Question 78

Frans de Waal is known for the "dilemma of the rarely exercised option" in evolutionary psychology. Based on this dilemma, which of the following is the MOST likely explanation for why someone would be unfaithful in a relationship?

A) Seeking out new mates helps increase social status.
B) Seeking out other mates helps increase chances for reproductive success.
C) Being unfaithful is a side effect of another evolutionary adaptation.
D) Cheating behavior helps test honesty of potential mates.

Question 79

All of the following are reasonable complications to evolutionary personality theory EXCEPT

A) males' looks are extremely important to many women.
B) women that are very thin lack sufficient body fat to menstruate.
C) the degree to which someone is considered physically attractive can be influenced by how much we like them.
D) women and men often abandon their children.

Question 80

The point of view that scientists will eventually be able to explain everything about the mind via biology is called

A) biological reductionism.
B) the naturalistic fallacy.
C) psychophysical structuralism.
D) evolutionary theorizing.