Psychology 3301F/G Study Guide - Biological Determinism, Eye Color, Cell Nucleus
Document Summary
Genes are segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (dna) that contain the code for a specific protein that functions in one or more types of cells in the body. Chromosomes are structures within cells that contain a person"s genes. Genes are contained in chromosomes, which are in the cell nucleus. Genetic determinism is the belief that genes, along with environmental conditions, determine morphological and behavioral phenotypes. The term is sometimes mistakenly applied to the unscientific belief that genes determine, to the exclusion of environmental influence, how an organism turns out. Natural selection is the main mechanism of evolution, and the successful survival through natural selection is called "adaptation". Natural selection is the only mechanism that can explain how organisms adapt to their environment. The concept of reaction range posits that heredity sets limits on one"s intellectual potential (represented by the horizontal bars), while the quality of one"s environment influences where one scores within this range (represented by the dots on the bars).
