PSY 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Twin Study, Psy, Phenotype

• School: University of Oregon
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 202
• Professor: measelle

Document Summary

We share 60% of genes with a common house y, 70% with a head of lettuce, 90% with chimpanzees, and 99. 9% of our genes with each other. Genes ultimately only account for about 30-35% of complex human behavior. Phenotype: an organism"s observable physical or behavioral characteristics, changes throughout life. ********genetics (nature) and environment (nuture) both play a role in human behavior not nature vs. nurture, more like nature x nurture******** Unlike most physical traits, most complex behavioral traits are going to be polygenetically based. And have a de nite environmental component: behavioral geneticists use 2 methods to assess the degree to which traits are inherited: Twin studies (mono- and dizygotic): identical twins" behavior is much more similar than fraternal twins" behavior. Adoption studies: heritability is a statistical estimate of the genetic portion of the observed variation in some speci c trait. It refers to populations, not to individuals.