PSY 1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Twin, Molecular Genetics, Evolutionary Psychology

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1102
• Professor: Ersin Asliturk

Document Summary

We start fearing strangers at about 8 months. Behaviour geneticists study our differences and weigh the effects and interplay of heredity and environment. We have 46 chromosomes, all of which are composed of dna, which have genes. Most of our traits are influenced by many genes. Complex traits- happiness, intelligence, etc. are influenced by a group of genes. Two different experiments: one varies the home environment, one varies only the genes. Identical twins develop from a single (monozygotic) fertilized egg that splits in two (genetically identical) They don"t always have the same number of copies of those genes- gives variation. Most share a placenta, but sometimes each have their own- one may have better nourishment, giving variation. Fraternal twins develop from separate (dizygotic) fertilized eggs, share a fetal environment. No more similar than ordinary brothers and sisters. Shared genes can mean they share experiences- i. e. with disease.