LING 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Foxp2, Mental Property, Intellectual Disability
1 Nov 2018
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Behavior Genetics- a field of
genetics that investigates the role of
genes and the environment with
respect to differences between
individual personalities.
Monozygotic- originating from the
same egg; identical.
Specific Language Impairment
(SLI)- a language disorder than
cannot be attributed to physical
(anatomical or motoric) defects,
independent psycho-emotional
problems, and overall mental
retardation. For people with SLI,
other aspects of cognitive
development occur normally.
Verbal Dyspraxia- an inability to
piece language utterances together
in an intelligible fashion; difficulty
with verbal articulation.
Polyglot- a person who makes a
hobby out of learning many different
languages.
!!!!!
Ponder on This:
✦Which aspects of language
are affected by the genes?
✦Can we be sure that,
whatever the genes influence
(competence or
performance), that these
Can specific genes be identified that play a role in language?
✦There is no such thing as a “language gene”.
✦It is difficult to identify genes that have a bearing within the mind.
✦How do we know that genes play a role in mental properties?
‣Behavior Genetics
Twin, Adoption, and Family Studies
✦Twins: Same genes, different environment
‣Monozygotic twins raised in different environments
‣These twins may be very different, but they are still more
similar than two random strangers.
✦Adoption: Same environment, different genes
‣Adopted children
‣Siblings not related by blood
‣More different than the identical twins due to genetic
differences
‣Raised in the same environment, brought up with the same
ideals and influences
✦Family: The closer the relatives, the more genetically alike
‣Studies of traits that run in families
An Unusual Case: Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
✦FOXP2 gene - a gene that controls language and speech
processing
✦A family in the British Isles
‣Abnormality on chromosome 7
‣Knocked out a copy of the FOXP2 gene
‣Three generations:
‣Grandmother (affected)
‣5 children: 4 effected
‣24 grandchildren: 10 affected
‣The effect:
‣Difficulty with processing language and speech
‣Difficulty with keeping a steady rhythm when speaking
✦Two key differences between the FOXP2 gene for chimpanzees
and FOXP2 gene for humans
‣Two differences in a region of the gene that is otherwise highly
conserved (static)
LING 1010 – LECTURE 20 - THE ARGUMENT FROM THE GENETICS
STANDPOINT
Document Summary
Ling 1010 lecture 20 - the argument from the genetics. Behavior genetics- a eld of genetics that investigates the role of genes and the environment with respect to differences between individual personalities. There is no such thing as a language gene . It is dif cult to identify genes that have a bearing within the mind. How do we know that genes play a role in mental properties: behavior genetics. Speci c language impairment (sli)- a language disorder than cannot be attributed to physical (anatomical or motoric) defects, independent psycho-emotional problems, and overall mental retardation. For people with sli, other aspects of cognitive development occur normally. Verbal dyspraxia- an inability to piece language utterances together in an intelligible fashion; dif culty with verbal articulation. Polyglot- a person who makes a hobby out of learning many different languages: monozygotic twins raised in different environments. These twins may be very different, but they are still more similar than two random strangers.
