PRACTICE QUESTIONS



PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Unit 3 C Nature & Nurture (Behavior Genetics and Evolutionary Psychology)

Behavior Genetics

|1. |Assessing the relative effects of nature and nurture on individual differences in personality would be of most direct interest |

| |to |

|A) |evolutionary psychologists. |

|B) |humanistic psychologists. |

|C) |behavior geneticists. |

|D) |Freudian psychologists. |

|E) |psychometricians. |

|2. |When people discuss the “nature vs. nurture” controversy, Nature refers to ________ and Nurture refers to ________. |

|A) |genes; heredity |

|B) |chromosomes; genetics |

|C) |biology; environment |

|D) |DNA; hormones |

|E) |thinking; behavior |

|3. |Identical twins originate from the fertilization of |

|A) |a single egg cell by a single sperm cell. |

|B) |two egg cells by a single sperm cell. |

|C) |a single egg cell by two sperm cells. |

|D) |two egg cells by two sperm cells. |

|E) |either two egg cells or two sperm cells. |

|4. |Twin studies suggest that Alzheimer's disease is influenced by |

|A) |hormones. |

|B) |nurture. |

|C) |heredity. |

|D) |natural selection. |

|E) |environment. |

|5. |Compared with identical twins, fraternal twins are |

|A) |less likely to be the same sex and more likely to be similar in extraversion. |

|B) |more likely to be the same sex and more likely to be similar in extraversion. |

|C) |more likely to be the same sex and less likely to be similar in extraversion. |

|D) |less likely to be the same sex and less likely to be similar in extraversion. |

|E) |less likely to be the same sex and equally likely to be similar in extraversion. |

|6. |Studies of identical twins who had been reared apart most clearly highlight the importance of ________ in personality |

| |development. |

|A) |natural selection |

|B) |mutation |

|C) |adoptive relatives |

|D) |home environments |

|E) |genetic predispositions |

|7. |When the “Jim twins,” identical twins separated at birth, were reunited 38 years later, surprising similarities were discovered.|

| |Although they had married women of the same name, named their sons and dogs the same names, one should be cautious before |

| |attributing these similarities to genetic factors because |

|A) |most twin studies have not been replicated. |

|B) |the Jim twins were raised in completely different environments. |

|C) |many fraternal twins show greater psychological differences. |

|D) |any two strangers are likely to share coincidental similarities. |

|E) |genes influence physical not psychological characteristics. |

|8. |Adopted children are more likely to demonstrate levels of agreeableness and extraversion, more similar to that of their |

| |biological parents than their adoptive parents. This finding suggests that personality traits are more strongly influenced by |

|A) |genes than by heredity. |

|B) |home environment than by genes. |

|C) |environmental relatives than by genetic relatives. |

|D) |nurture than by nature. |

|E) |genes than by the home environment. |

|9. |The personalities of adopted children |

|A) |are very similar to the personalities of the other children in their adoptive families. |

|B) |are very similar to the personalities of their biologically related siblings. |

|C) |are not very similar to the personalities of their adoptive parents. |

|D) |are more similar to the personalities of their caregiving adoptive parents than to the personalities of their biological |

| |parents. |

|E) |are usually not related to their temperaments. |

|10. |The home environment most clearly has a greater influence on children's ________ than on their ________. |

|A) |personality; political attitudes |

|B) |extraversion; table manners |

|C) |religious beliefs; personality traits |

|D) |DNA; genes |

|E) |shyness; social group |

|11. |To estimate trait heritability, researchers are most likely to make use of |

|A) |cloning. |

|B) |natural selection. |

|C) |interaction. |

|D) |twin studies. |

|E) |DNA. |

|12. |Heritability refers to the extent to which |

|A) |unrelated individuals share common genes. |

|B) |genetic mutations can be transmitted to one's offspring. |

|C) |trait differences among individuals are attributable to genetic variations. |

|D) |adult personality is determined by infant personality. |

|E) |nurture controls a trait rather than nature. |

|13. |Why is it incorrect to say that 50 percent heritability of intelligence means that the cause of your intelligence is 50 percent |

| |genetic and 50 percent environmental? |

|A) |because heritability accounts for variations among people, not in specific individuals |

|B) |because nurture controls intelligence levels, not nature |

|C) |because unrelated individuals share common genes |

|D) |because genes are the basis for our behavior, environment has no impact |

|E) |because heritability increases as environments change |

Evolutionary Psychology

|14. |Our adaptive flexibility in responding to different environments contributes to our fitness, which refers to |

|A) |random errors in the replication of genes. |

|B) |the extent to which variation among individuals can be attributed to their differing genes. |

|C) |our ability to survive and reproduce. |

|D) |the interaction of our genes with the environment. |

|E) |our resistance to genetic mutations. |

|15. |Evolutionary psychologists emphasize that environmentally adaptive behaviors are those that have promoted |

|A) |reproductive success. |

|B) |personal happiness. |

|C) |cultural diversity. |

|D) |heritability. |

|E) |behavior genetics. |

|16. |The prevalence of genetically predisposed traits that have a reproductive advantage is best explained in terms of |

|A) |molecular genetics. |

|B) |natural selection. |

|C) |behavior genetics. |

|D) |self-regulation. |

|E) |environment. |

|17. |Dmitry Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut successfully domesticated wild foxes by means of |

|A) |heritability. |

|B) |selective mating. |

|C) |gene splicing. |

|D) |hormone injections. |

|E) |training. |

|18. |How do evolutionary psychologists explain why pregnant women from cultures across the world tend to avoid bitter, strongly |

| |flavored foods? |

|A) |Most cultures educate women about the dangers of certain foods on a developing fetus. |

|B) |Women and men have genetic differences in taste preferences. |

|C) |Bitter tastes can be an indication of foods toxic toward a developing baby, so this preference developed through natural |

| |selection. |

|D) |Pregnant women tend to associate with one another and they acquire similar food preferences through social conformity. |

|E) |Historical preferences toward or against certain tastes tend to change as cultures change. |

|19. |Evolutionary psychologists would be most likely to predict that |

|A) |more people are biologically predisposed to fear guns than to fear snakes. |

|B) |children are more likely to be valued by their biological fathers than by their stepfathers. |

|C) |people are the most romantically attracted to those who are the most genetically dissimilar to themselves. |

|D) |genetic predispositions have little effect on our social relationships. |

|E) |environmental influences are more deterministic than genetic influences. |

|20. |Evolutionary psychologists would be most likely to attribute gender differences in attitudes toward sex to the fact that men |

| |have ________ than do women. |

|A) |larger bodies |

|B) |stronger personalities |

|C) |a weaker sense of empathy |

|D) |greater reproductive potential |

|E) |more insecurities |

|21. |Evolutionary psychologists would be most likely to predict that men will marry women who are ________ than they are. |

|A) |less wealthy |

|B) |less physically attractive |

|C) |more sexually experienced |

|D) |younger |

|E) |more aggressive toward sexual rivals |

|22. |Researchers found that women rated men higher as potential long-term mates when they spent more time looking at baby pictures. |

| |This finding suggests that |

|A) |women are drawn to youthful, healthy appearing men. |

|B) |women prefer men who express interest in caring for joint offspring. |

|C) |men approach sex as being more relational. |

|D) |women have a lower threshold for perceiving warm responses as sexual. |

|E) |men are less attracted to women who are likely to reproduce. |

|23. |Women are most likely to be sexually attracted to men who seem |

|A) |shy and reserved. |

|B) |emotionally reactive and intense. |

|C) |interested in recreational sex. |

|D) |mature and affluent. |

|E) |extraverted and dependent. |

|24. |Evolutionary psychologists are most likely to be criticized for |

|A) |providing hindsight explanations for human behaviors. |

|B) |failing to consider unconscious motivations. |

|C) |overemphasizing humans' capacity to learn and adapt to a variety of environments. |

|D) |underestimating gender differences in mate selection. |

|E) |overestimating cultural differences in human sexual behaviors. |

|25. |Which psychological perspective most directly addresses questions about the relative influences of nature and nurture? |

|A) |behavioral perspective |

|B) |humanistic perspective |

|C) |psychopharmacology |

|D) |cognitive perspective |

|E) |biopsychosocial perspective |

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