Deck 2: Epigenesis and the Brain: the Fundamentals of Behavioral Development

Question 1

In one animal study of the influence of genes on behavior,offspring of rats with genes for low stress reactivity were reared by unrelated mother rats with genes for high stress reactivity.This is an example of

A)a survey study.
B)a cross-fostering study.
C)a longitudinal study.
D)a comparative study.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Brown eye-color alleles are dominant over blue eye-color alleles,which are recessive.Jenna has brown eyes.Her husband,Bill,has blue eyes.Jenna and Bill are the biological parents of James,who has blue eyes.What eye-color gene alleles must Jenna have?

A)Bb one brown and one blue allele)
B)BB two brown alleles)
C)bb two blue alleles)
D)BBB three brown alleles)

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis HPA axis)plays a significant role in

A)the human response to stress.
B)X-linked recessive diseases.
C)determining the sex of a fetus.
D)determining eye color.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Brown eye-color alleles are dominant over blue eye-color alleles,which are recessive.Jenna has brown eyes.Her husband,Bill,has blue eyes.Jenna and Bill are the biological parents of James,who has blue eyes.Jenna would be described as ____________ of the allele for blue eyes.

A)having the phenotype
B)being a regulator
C)having the genotype
D)being a carrier

Question 5

Fetal brains are built by neurons

A)that are generated by the cortex.
B)that migrate from the top of the brain down to the lower brain.
C)that migrate from the bottom of the brain up to the higher areas.
D)that migrate from the glial cells to the outside surface of the cortex.

Question 6

Recessive,defective gene alleles can cause hereditary disorders.It is estimated that most

A)zero
B)three to five
C)hundreds of
D)thousands of

Question 7

In one study,young rats exposed to stress vocalized their anxiety.Their mothers,alerted to this distress,responded with diligent caregiving behavior that altered the development of the hippocampus.Which of the following processes or principles does this example demonstrate?

A)Dominant-recessive gene relationships.
B)Active gene effects.
C)The role of regulator genes in behavior genetics.
D)Epigenesis.

Question 8

Myelinization is the process which involves

A)neurons migrating to the temporal lobes.
B)separating the left and right hemispheres of the cortex.
C)coating the axon with a fatty sheath that improves conduction of electrical impulses.
D)development of the nuclei of the brain.

Question 9

Ms.Dawson recently gave birth to twins,a girl and a boy.Which of the following statements about them must be true?

A)They share 100 per cent of their genes.
B)They are monozygotic.
C)They are dizygotic.
D)They originated from a single zygote.

Question 10

When she was pregnant with Joey,Joey's mother had a poor diet because food was in short supply in her war-torn country.The war ended after Joey was born,and his middle-class mother was able to provide him with adequate,nutritious food throughout his childhood.Which of the following outcomes is the most likely for Joey?

A)Joey may show few,if any,long term negative effects from his prenatal deprivation.
B)Joey will probably experience serious long-term cognitive deficits.
C)Joey will probably experience serious long-term emotional deficits,but not cognitive problems.
D)Joey is at greater risk of serious ongoing health problems than youngsters who have adequate prenatal nutrition.

Question 11

The epigenome is the full set of factors,from the cell to the outside world,that controls the expression of

A)hereditary material.
B)recessive genes.
C)the zygote.
D)histones.

Question 12

One epigenetic change that can affect the expression of a gene is methylation,which is

A)the subtraction of an organic molecule from DNA
B)the addition of an organic molecule to DNA
C)the addition of RNA to DNA
D)the effect of hormones on DNA

Question 13

Based on your knowledge of prenatal development,which of the following sequences would you expect to be correct?

A)The heart begins to form before the hands.
B)The hands begin to form before the heart.
C)The legs begin to form before the head.
D)The feet begin to form before the lungs.

Question 14

Neurons communicate with each othe

A)by means of chemicals that are present in the spaces between them.
B)by means of dendrites touching other dendrites.
C)by means of electrical impulses that radiate out of the myelin sheath.
D)by means of connections with glial cells.

Question 15

Which of the following is an accurate description of the long-term effects of chronic stress on the body?

A)The ability of the immune system to fight infection and ward off disease is compromised.
B)There are no effects on the immune system,and only short term effects on the cardiovascular system.
C)There are no effects on the cardiovascular system,but long term effects on the skeletal muscles.
D)There are no lasting effects on the body - when the stress ends all physical systems return to normal.

Question 16

The available data indicate that chronic maternal stress during pregnancy has which of the following effects on the fetus?

A)No effects
B)Arouses the fetus's own stress response temporarily,but has no lasting effects
C)Is related to newborn hyperactivity and irritability
D)Causes long term psychopathology

Question 17

There are 46 of these in the nuclei of human cells,they are composed of deoxyribonucleic acid.

A)Teratogens
B)Zygotes
C)Chromosomes
D)Genes

Question 18

Complete the following analogy: geneotype is to phenotype as

A)gene is to chromosome
B)DNA is to RNA
C)code is to expression
D)night is to day

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true about the effects of teratogens on the developing fetus?

A)Any given teratogen usually has the same effect regardless of when in prenatal development exposure occurs.
B)The kind of damage done depends on the stage of development during exposure.
C)A teratogen will usually have the same effect regardless of how much exposure the fetus has to that teratogen.
D)Ancient Greeks believed in teratogens,but modern science has been unable to identify any.

Question 20

Which of the following is the best example of neuroplasticity?

A)Cells from the hippocampus are instrumental in encoding memories.
B)The 3-year-old's brain is approximately three-fourths of its adult size.
C)Fetal brains grow quickly,increasing in weight over the course of pregnancy.
D)Neurons that are transplanted from the auditory cortex to the visual cortex begin to perceive light.

Question 21

Most postnatal brain growth depends upon the proliferation of

A)synapses.
B)myelination.
C)neurotransmitters.
D)glial cells.

Question 22

Sally,age 28,recently married John,age 45.They would like to have a child,but they are concerned that they may be at high risk to have a child with a chromosomal abnormality,like Down's syndrome,because of John's age.What is their genetic counselor likely to tell them?

A)They are at higher than average risk for some chromosomal disorders because of John's age,but not for Down's syndrome.
B)They are at higher than average risk for chromosomal disorders of all sorts because of John's age.
C)There is no relationship between parents' age and chromosomal disorders in their offspring.
D)The risk of any chromosomal disorder in a child is only related to the mother's age,not to the father's age.

Question 23

Explain why it is important for a helping professional to be aware of the coaction of genes and environment.Be sure to include a definition of coaction,with examples.,

Question 24

The process of myelination is not completed until

A)well into adulthood.
B)middle childhood.
C)the end of infancy.
D)around age 5 or 6.

Question 25

Robert and Nadine both have been laid off.The couple has inadequate access to food or health care.When they realize that Nadine is pregnant,they feel desperate,and they talk to a social worker at a local clinic about their situation.The social worker is able to provide them with referrals to a food outlet,but she is unable to find a prenatal care clinic that provides free services in their neighborhood.Considering the effects of multiple risk factors,what is the most likely potential value of the social worker's efforts?

A)The fewer risk factors the better,so their unborn child is likely to be better off even with the limited help the social worker provided.
B)Their unborn child is not likely to be benefited by eliminating only one risk factor.
C)The unborn child might have been benefited if prenatal care were found,but improving prenatal nutrition is not important.
D)The health care and stress factors will only be important after the child is born.

Question 26

There are several principles that govern the effects of teratogens on the developing fetus.Describe these principles,giving examples.Page 53-54)

Question 27

If you look at the karyotypes of person A and person B and discover that they look alike, what can you infer is the same about these two people?

A)Their parents.
B)Their sex.
C)Their height.
D)Their blood type.

Question 28

What advice could you provide a pregnant teenager in order to help her assure the health of her baby? ,

Question 29

For most mental illnesses and behavioral disorders,like alcoholism and clinical depression,the genetic contribution can best be described as

A)the result of a pair of recessive,defective genes.
B)the result of a dominant,defective gene.
C)the result of a single gene mutation.
D)polygenic.

Question 30

Of the following,which is the most accurate example of coaction?

A)Genes that are related to a specific disorder may be expressed phenotypically only in a certain kind of environment.
B)Genes for a disorder that are on the X-chromosome will only be expressed in females.
C)The environment and the genes have an equal influence on a disorder.
D)Genes will have a greater influence on the development of a disorder when the genes are dominant.

Question 31

Massage therapy for infants has been very successful in promoting weight gain and social interaction,and in decreasing distress in low birth weight infants.Based upon developmental research,what is the best explanation for this?

A)Infants' bodies take in more nutrients when they are touched as they nurse.
B)Touch is the best developed sense at birth and therefore the most effective avenue for soothing and regulating the newborn.
C)When the infant is massaged,its attachment to the caregiver is strengthened.
D)Crying and other distress is reduced because the infant is paying attention to the person giving the massage.
Chapter 2 Essay Questions
See answer key for potential essay answers)

Question 32

Which of the following is true with respect to the impact of nurture on the fetus' developing brain?

A)Fetal brain development is almost totally dependent upon the fetus' genetic inheritance because it has no environmental experience in the womb.
B)The development of the lower,primitive areas of the brain depend upon nature but the higher levels depend upon nurture.
C)Mothers can advance the fetus' intelligence significantly by speaking out loud in foreign languages during pregnancy.
D)The establishment of some synaptic connections in the fetal brain depends upon environmental input,like sound.

Question 33

Children who suffer severe protein and calorie shortages at any age may experience stunted growth,a protuberant belly,and extreme apathy.This severe starvation syndrome is called

A)lowest observable effect.
B)kwashiorkor.
C)Huntington's disease.
D)proximo-distal development.

Question 34

Genes have their effects on the proteins and enzymes produced by the cell.Yet,there appear to be genetic influences on behavior.Take some example of a behavior or a behavioral disorder,and explain how genes operating at a cellular level could have any effect at the behavioral level.,

Question 35

The brain is commonly classified into three main parts.They are

A)midbrain,pons,and cerebellum.
B)forebrain,midbrain and hindbrain.
C)midbrain,forebrain and cerebral cortex.
D)cerebellum,medulla and limbic system

Question 36

Symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome FAS)include

A)addiction to alcohol.
B)blindness and shortened limbs.
C)flipper arms.
D)widely spaced eyes and flattened nose.