PSY 376 Chap 6

At the level of the individual A. there is no nature-nurture debate. B. genes are useful in studying personality. C. the idiographic genetic approach should be used. D. genes determine most of personality.

A. there is no nature-nurture debate.

The human genome contains about _____ separate genes. A. 10,000-15,000 B. 20,000-40,000 C. 30,000-40,000 D. 1,000,000-2,000,000

B. 20,000-40,000

A parent shares, on average, _____ percent of his or her genes with each child. A. 25 B. 50 C. 75 D. 100

B. 50

Shared family environment is BEST expressed by which of the following? A. The friends a child selects while growing up. B. A shared family vacation. C. A parent's rapid rise up the corporate ladder. D. Differential effects of grandparenting on children.

B. A shared family vacation.

_____ are also known as "monozygotic twins." A. Fraternal twins B. Genotypic twins C. Identical twins D. Phenotypic twins

B. Genotypic twins

____ aims to identify specific genes associated with personality traits. A. Adoption studies B. Molecular genetics C. Twin studies D. Behavior Genetics

B. Molecular genetics

_____ refers to observed differences among individuals. A. Heritability B. Phenotypic variance C. Genotypic variance D. Environmentality

B. Phenotypic variance

_____ is shown when successive generations show more and more of a trait. A. Shared environment B. Selective breeding C. Genotype-environment correlation D. The equal environments assumption

B. Selective breeding

Which of the following estimates heritability most accurately? A. The difference between the correlations of MZ twins and DZ twins. B. Twice the difference between the correlations of MZ twins and DZ twins. C. One-half the difference between the correlations of MZ twins and DZ twins. D. Multiplying the correlations between MZ twins and DZ twins.

B. Twice the difference between the correlations of MZ twins and DZ twins.

An extravert who seeks out stimulating environments in which to work demonstrates a(n) _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. direct B. active C. passive D. reactive

B. active

If the correlation between adoptive parents' traits and adopted children's traits is high we can assume A. a genetic influence. B. an environmental influence. C. an influence of shared environment. D. adoptive parents pick children similar to themselves.

B. an environmental influence.

Nonshared family environment is best expressed as those aspects of the family environment that A. are uniquely experienced by the family. B. are uniquely experienced by an individual family member. C. are hoarded by the family members. D. represent differential genetic dimorphism

B. are uniquely experienced by an individual family member.

Evidence for the extremely small effects of shared family environment includes the low correlations A. across biological siblings for personality traits. B. between adopted children's personality traits in the same family. C. between adopted and biological children in the same family for personality traits. D. between adopted children and their parents personality traits.

B. between adopted children's personality traits in the same family.

According to recent research (e.g., the Bailey et al. study discussed in the text as support for Bem's 1995 theory), it appears that A. sexual orientation is extremely heritable. B. childhood gender nonconformity may be the inherited component of adult sexual orientation. C. gender nonconformity is not heritable. D. homosexuals' brains are the same as heterosexuals' brains.

B. childhood gender nonconformity may be the inherited component of adult sexual orientation.

Genotype-environment _____ describes what occurs when people with different genotypes are exposed to different environments. A. interaction B. correlation C. variance D. concordance

B. correlation

A yearly family trip to Uncle Earl and Aunt Eunice's farm would be considered part of the _____ environment. A. shared common family B. nonshared family C. family experiential D. phenotypic family

A. shared common family

It is unlikely that a single gene will ever be found that explains more than a _____ percentage of variation in personality. A. small B. marginal C. moderate D. large

A. small

Dizygotic twins share _____ genes compared to ordinary siblings, and _____ genes compared to monozygotic twins. A. the same amount; less B. more; less C. more; more D. less; more

A. the same amount; less

One problem with attempting to study the effects of nonshared family environment is that A. there are myriad environmental variables that affect personality, but each may have only a small effect. B. the nonshared environmental effects on each child in the family are too subtle to analyze with current methods. C.the effects of shared family environments interfere with clearly observing the effects of the nonshared family environments. D. the equal environments assumption is violated by variables attributable to nonshared family environment.

A. there are myriad environmental variables that affect personality, but each may have only a small effect.

A child shows early musical ability, which causes her parents to buy a piano for her. This scenario demonstrates the idea of genotype-environment A. interaction. B. correlation. C. variance. D. concordance.

B. correlation.

Juanita is a fantastic basketball player. She has great innate ability. She is tall, agile, and has a great head for the game. Her parents take every opportunity to send her to basketball camps and clinics, and make sure she gets extra coaching. Juanita's basketball skills are due to a genotype-environment A. interaction. B. correlation. C. variance. D. concordance.

B. correlation.

Which of the following is probably most heritable? A. Drinking behavior in men. B. Drinking behavior in women. C. Alcoholism in men and women. D. Alcoholism is not heritable.

C. Alcoholism in men and women.

Which one of the following is NOT one of the fears about genetic research? A. Genetic research will lead to the development of "designer" babies. B. If criminal behavior is genetic then attempts at rehabilitation will be fruitless. C. Decoding genetic differences will reveal complexities in human nature. D. Genetic research will marginalize research in other areas of psychology.

C. Decoding genetic differences will reveal complexities in human nature.

Mary Jo and Bobbi Jo are identical twins. Their parents dress them alike, put them in the same classes and treat them identically. If Betty Jo and Mary Jo were selected to participate in a twin study, they may contaminate the results by leading to a violation of the _____ assumption. A. Nonshared family variance B. Shared family environment C. Equal environments D. Confluence effects

C. Equal environments

_____ refers to individual differences in the collection of genes of each person. A. Heritability B. Phenotypic variance C. Genotypic variance D. Environmentality

C. Genotypic variance

Which of the following could potentially develop from a single fertilized egg? A. All siblings B. Fraternal twins C. Identical twins D. Zygotic twins

C. Identical twins

When individuals respond to someone else based on that person's genotype, there is a _____ genotype- environment correlation. A. reactive B. interpersonal C. active D. evocative

A. reactive

If adopted children differ in important ways from most other people, it would violate the _____ assumption. A. representativeness B. equal environments C. eugenics D. shared family environment

A. representativeness

The term _____ refers to the complete set of genes an organism possesses. A. "genome" B. "eugenics" C. "phenotypic" D. "genotypic"

A. "genome"

The proportion of phenotypic variation in a group of individuals due to genetic variance is called A. "heritability." B. the "phenotypic percentage of variance." C. the "genome." D. "eugenics."

A. "heritability."

Research indicates that shared environmental factors correlate about _____ with personality. A. .05 B. .25 C. .50 D. .65

A. .05

If the heritability of sociability is .30, the environment is responsible for A. 70 percent of phenotypic variation. B. 70 percent of genotypic variation. C. 30 percent of phenotypic variation. D. 30 percent of genotypic variation.

A. 70 percent of phenotypic variation.

Which of the following could be a violation of the equal environments assumption? A. Dressing identical twins in the identical clothes. B. Dressing fraternal twins in the identical clothes. C. Twins are treated differently than other children. D. Fraternal twins are similar to ordinary siblings.

A. Dressing identical twins in the identical clothes.

Which of the following methods provides the LEAST conclusive evidence that a trait is heritable? A. Family studies B. Twin studies C. Adoption studies D. Selective breeding

A. Family studies

_____ refers to the proportion of variance in a group of individuals that can be accounted for by genetic variance. A. Heritability B. Phenotypic percentage of variance C. The genome D. Eugenics

A. Heritability

Which of the following statements about heritability is NOT true? A. Heritability can be applied to an individual. B. Heritability can change over time. C. The heritability of the same trait can be different in different groups. D. The phenotype is the expression of a characteristic's genotype.

A. Heritability can be applied to an individual.

Which of the following is NOT a type of genotype-environment correlation? A. Interclass B. Active C. Passive D. Reactive

A. Interclass

______ traits show moderate to high heritability. A. Psychopathic B. Religious C. Idiographic D. Political

A. Psychopathic

Which of the following methods in NOT used with humans? A. Selective breeding B. Twin studies C. Adoption studies D. Family studies

A. Selective breeding

Which of the following attitudes has been found to be somewhat heritable? A. Traditionalism B. Belief in God C. Involvement in religious activities D. Attitudes about racial integration

A. Traditionalism

Selective breeding in dogs demonstrates that A. behavioral traits can be heritable. B. human personality is heritable. C. the equal environments assumption is not violated. D. the representativeness assumption is not violated.

A. behavioral traits can be heritable.

Individuals with so-called "long repeat" versions of the D4DR gene tend to be relatively unresponsive to the effects of A. dopamine. B. epinephrine. C. serotonin. D. acetylcholine.

A. dopamine.

The idea that people with "desirable" characteristics should be encouraged to have children while "less desirable" people should be discouraged from having children is called A. eugenics. B. molecular genetics. C. selective placement. D. heritability.

A. eugenics.

Most major personality traits A. have been found to be moderately heritable. B. have been found to be not at all heritable. C. have not been studied with respect to heritability. D. are more heritable than height.

A. have been found to be moderately heritable.

The search is for the discovery of specific genes that are responsible for personality traits is called _____ genetics. A. molecular B. behavior C. molar D. univariate

A. molecular

Aunts and uncles share, on average, _____ percent of their genes with nieces and nephews. A. 0 B. 12.5 C. 25 D. 50

C. 25

The equal environments assumption states that A. all people in a population share similar environments. B. dizygotic twins are not treated differently from monozygotic twins. C. twins are not treated differently from ordinary siblings. D. parents treat all their children the same.

B. dizygotic twins are not treated differently from monozygotic twins.

Most studies linking a specific gene to personality A. fail to find a relationship. B. find that the gene accounts for a small percentage of variance. C. find that the gene accounts for a moderate percentage of variance. D. find that the gene accounts for a large percentage of variance.

B. find that the gene accounts for a small percentage of variance.

All of these are significant shared family environment variables EXCEPT A. smoking and drinking. B. gender nonconformity. C. verbal intelligence. D. health behavior.

B. gender nonconformity.

The idea that individuals with different genotypes respond differently to the same environmental cues is called A. passive genotype-environment interaction. B. genotype-environment interaction. C. active genotype-environment correlation. D. genotype-environment correlation.

B. genotype-environment interaction.

The Human Genome Project has A. been a large failure. B. identified the sequence of DNA molecules in humans. C. identified the functions of most human genes. D. discovered that people differ widely in their particular genes.

B. identified the sequence of DNA molecules in humans.

The goal of the Human Genome Project is to A. identify which genes are related to personality. B. identify the particular sequence of DNA molecules in humans. C. identify genotypic variance. D. solve the nature-nurture debate once and for all.

B. identify the particular sequence of DNA molecules in humans.

The personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism have been found to be A. highly heritable. B. moderately heritable. C. slightly heritable. D. not at all heritable.

B. moderately heritable.

A trait is likely to be heritable if _____ are more similar in that trait than _____. A. dizygotic twins; monozygotic twins B. monozygotic twins; dizygotic twins C. ordinary siblings; dizygotic twins D. dizygotic twins; ordinary siblings

B. monozygotic twins; dizygotic twins

The idea that genes contribute to personality is A. unsupported by research. B. more accepted today than it was 10 years ago. C. less accepted today than is was 10 years ago. D. a branch of environmentalism.

B. more accepted today than it was 10 years ago.

Brian always tries to decide the team's strategy. Over time, the rest of the team works to let everybody have a voice in the team strategy. This is an example of a _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. positive B. negative C. reactive D. active

B. negative

The gene D4DR has been associated with A. neuroticism. B. novelty seeking. C. sexual orientation. D. traditionalism.

B. novelty seeking.

Combining adoption studies and twin studies A. methodologically is not appropriate in behavior genetics studies. B. provides an especially powerful method for studying behavior genetics. C. requires selective breeding over many generations of lab animals. D. provides an error-free estimate of heritability for behavior genetics studies.

B. provides an especially powerful method for studying behavior genetics.

Alex scores high on the neuroticism scale. He acts extremely anxious much of the time, which causes other people to constantly try to calm him. The responses Alex elicits from others are an example of a _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. active B. reactive C. elicative D. evocative

B. reactive

Jerold was adopted by his mother's sister (his maternal aunt) and his uncle. If he were to participate in a behavior genetics study his scores would A. skew the results to favor the percentage of the variance for his scores to genetic influences. B. skew the results to favor the percentage of the variance for his scores to environmental influences. C. the results of his test scores would be skewed to show the greater effects of maternal influences. D. the results of his test scores would not bias the effects for either the genes or the environment.

B. skew the results to favor the percentage of the variance for his scores to environmental influences.

A trait is heritable if A. adoptive parents and the children they have adopted have similar levels of a characteristic. B. the biological parents of children they placed for adoption have similar levels of a characteristic. C. adoptive parents and biological parents of a child have similar levels of a characteristic. D.the children that have been adopted have levels of a characteristic that are similar to those of the other siblings in the home.

B. the biological parents of children they placed for adoption have similar levels of a characteristic.

The fact that Americans are, on average, 2 inches taller than a hundred years ago demonstrates that A. the environment determines height. B. the environment can contribute to highly heritable traits. C. height is not heritable. D. height is only slightly heritable.

B. the environment can contribute to highly heritable traits.

The use of selective breeding in animals can be used to study A. sexual selection pressures for behaviors. B. the heritability of behaviors. C. natural selection pressures for behaviors. D. the dominance hierarchies of animals.

B. the heritability of behaviors.

The argument over whether the environment or genes determines personality is known as A. the eugenics debate. B. the nature-nurture debate. C. heritability. D. the equal environments assumption.

B. the nature-nurture debate.

Chimpanzees show moderate heritability for dominance and A. extraversion. B. well-being. C. aggressiveness. D. sociability.

B. well-being.

All human genes are located somewhere on one of _____ pairs of chromosomes. A. 12 B. 17 C. 23 D. 32

C. 23

David, an extravert, and Tom, is an introvert, are studying in a small room with the television's volume is quite loud. Based on what you know about genotype-environment interactions, what can you say about how effectively the two are studying? A. Tom will most likely study better then David due the background noise of the television. B. David will find the television much more distracting than Tom will. C. Tom will find the television much more distracting than David will. D. Both David and Tom will start watching television and scheme to move the test back one week.

C. Tom will find the television much more distracting than David will.

Sharon scores high on the sensation seeking scale. There is nothing she likes better then to seek out thrills like skydiving or bungee jumping. Sharon seeks out these high-risk behaviors due to a _____ genotype- environment correlation. A. reactive B. aggressive C. active D. evocative

C. active

The "Jim twins" A. prove that personality traits are heritable. B. prove the effects of nonshared family environments. C. are very similar despite having been separated at birth. D. are identical in all ways.

C. are very similar despite having been separated at birth.

If we were attempting to determine how much of George's personality was due to genetics and how much were due to the environment we would A. measure George's genome. B. compare George to his siblings. C. be asking an impossible question. D. map his chromosomes.

C. be asking an impossible question.

Recent findings from behavioral genetics and brain research point to the possibility that sexual orientation may A. be heritable only in men. B. be heritable only in women. C. be heritable in both women and men. D. not be at all heritable.

C. be heritable in both women and men.

For selective breeding to be successful, the desired trait must A. be entirely under genetic control. B. occur in all offspring. C. be heritable. D. not effected by the environment.

C. be heritable.

An advantage of adoption studies is that they A. depend on the equal environments assumption. B. depend on the representativeness assumption. C. do not depend on the equal environments assumption. D. do not depend on the representativeness assumption.

C. do not depend on the equal environments assumption.

If the heritability of a trait is very large, then the _____ of the trait is small. A. phenotypic variance B. genotypic variance C. environmentality D. genomic variance

C. environmentality

Selective placement is a potential problem with behavior genetics studies as it artificially inflates the A. estimates of genetic influences. B. estimates of nonshared family environment. C. estimates of environmental influences. D. effects of the equal environments assumption.

C. estimates of environmental influences.

One of the most common formulas for assessing heritability is A. heritability = (rdz - rmz). B. heritability2 = (rmz - rdz). C. heritability2 = 2(rmz - rdz). D. heritability = 2(rmz - rdz).

C. heritability2 = 2(rmz - rdz).

Jerry is extremely extraverted and will monopolize conversations. His girlfriend, Elaine, does a good job of forcing Jerry to let other people get a few words into the conversation. Jerry's incessant talkativeness and Elaine's ability to do something about it is an example of a _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. passive B. restrained C. negative D. positive

C. negative

The technical term for dividing a trait's score genetic and environmental variance at the population level is called A. apportioning. B. subdivision. C. partitioning. D. extrapolating.

C. partitioning.

Winston, the son of a professional musician, grew up surrounded by many musical instruments in his home. This is an example of a _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. interclass B. active C. passive D. reactive

C. passive

Behavioral geneticists are generally NOT interested in the A. percentage of variance due to the environment B. percentage of variance due to genes C. percentage of genetic variance in an individual. D. ways in which genes and the environment interact to form personality.

C. percentage of genetic variance in an individual.

If a score for a characteristic is divided into its different causes researchers are typically assessing the _____ due each of the causes of that score. A. genotype-environment B. genotype-environment C. percentage of variance D. environmentalism

C. percentage of variance

The number of books in a child's home is an example of A. phenotypic variance. B. genotypic variance. C. shared environment. D. nonshared environment.

C. shared environment.

Research on brain differences between homosexual and heterosexual men has found some evidence that homosexual men have A. brains substantially more like women's brains than heterosexual males' brains. B. substantially larger ascending reticular activating systems than heterosexual men. C. substantially smaller medial preoptic regions of the hypothalamus than heterosexual men. D. substantially smaller occipital lobes of the brain than heterosexual men.

C. substantially smaller medial preoptic regions of the hypothalamus than heterosexual men.

Based on the molecular genetic research done to date, we can speculate that A. personality is probably not related to genes. B. most traits are caused by a single gene plus the environment. C. the genetic component of a personality trait is likely the result of many genes. D. genes are more important than the environment in shaping personality.

C. the genetic component of a personality trait is likely the result of many genes.

If a trait is highly heritable, A. all family members will possess the trait. B. all children in the family will possess the trait. C. the more closely family members are genetically related; the more similar they will be on the trait. D. all members of the population will possess the trait.

C. the more closely family members are genetically related; the more similar they will be on the trait.

Which of the following is NOT a reason why heritability can vary? A. It is an imprecise estimate. B. Environments change. C. Unreliability in measurement. D. Heritability coefficients are fixed in a population.

D. Heritability coefficients are fixed in a population.

Which of the following share 100 percent of their genes? A. Parents and children B. All siblings C. Dizygotic twins D. Monozygotic twins

D. Monozygotic twins

_____ refers to the unique things that happen to one sibling and not another. A. Phenotypic variance B. Genotypic variance C. Shared environment D. Nonshared environment

D. Nonshared environment

Which of the following is an example of a shared environmental influence? A. A child's friends B. The grades a child gets C. Special treatment from a parent D. Parents' values and attitudes

D. Parents' values and attitudes

Which of the following is NOT a problem with the family-study method? A. Family members sharing environments. B. The degree of genetic similarity is often correlated with environmental similarity. C. Siblings may share traits because they grew up in the same household. D. The fact that parents contribute 50 percent of their genes to each child.

D. The fact that parents contribute 50 percent of their genes to each child.

Most psychologists who study genetics A. support the idea of eugenics. B. believe creating "designer babies" is a worthwhile goal. C. believe that the environment does not contribute to personality. D. are interested in the causes of individual differences.

D. are interested in the causes of individual differences.

The idea that personality is determined primarily by socialization and parenting is called A. eugenics. B. the nature-nurture debate. C. the equal environments assumption. D. environmentalism.

D. environmentalism.

The percentage of variance in a group of individuals that can be attributed to nongenetic differences is called A. heritability. B. phenotypic variance. C. genotypic variance. D. environmentality.

D. environmentality.

Barbara is a renowned naturalist. Her parents were both park rangers and she grew up in various national parks. Barbara's predilection to become a naturalist was most likely due to a ______ genotype- environment correlation. A. active B. positive C. negative D. passive

D. passive

When a mother increases the number of times she holds a child because the child loves it so much, we observe a(n) _____ genotype-environment correlation. A. direct B. active C. passive D. reactive

D. reactive

Researchers have studied cases where parents were wrong about whether their twins were identical or fraternal to address A. shared environments. B. selective breeding. C. genotype-environment correlation. D. the equal environments assumption.

D. the equal environments assumption.