PSYC 304 STUDY EXAMS GUIDE ALL 2026
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Twin studies - ✔✔Compare MZ and DZ twins; MZ twins more alike than DZ twins
(but MZ may be treated more similarly than DZ)
✔✔Adoption studies - ✔✔Compare children with biological and adoptive parents;
children more like adoptive parents (however: selective placement - children's adoptive
parents may resemble their biological parents)
✔✔Reaction range - ✔✔The range of phenotypes that the same genotype may produce
in reaction to the environment where development takes place
"A genotype will lead to a phenotype, but only if the environment cooperates"
ex: intelligence example from class
✔✔Epigenesis - ✔✔The continuous interplay between genes and multiple levels of the
environment that drives development
✔✔Heritability coefficient - ✔✔Estimates the extent to which differences between
people reflect heredity; use of twin and adoption studies
, ✔✔Niche-picking - ✔✔The process of deliberately seeking environments that fit one's
heredity
ex: active child
✔✔Non shared environmental influences - ✔✔The environmental forces that make
siblings different from one another
✔✔Co-dominance - ✔✔Heterozygous gene pairs are fully expressed
ex: chestnut horse and white horse will produce roan offspring; blood type in humans
✔✔Albinism - ✔✔Skin lacks melanin, which causes visual problems and extreme
sensitivity to light
✔✔X-linked disorders - ✔✔Hemophilia, red-green color blindness
✔✔Y-linked disorders - ✔✔Azoospermia, abnormal/absent testicular development,
retinitis pigmentosa
✔✔Patau's syndrome - ✔✔Trisomy 13
✔✔Edwards syndrome - ✔✔Trisomy 18
✔✔Nondisjunction - ✔✔Occur during Meiosis I/II; results in daughter cells with abnormal
chromosome numbers
✔✔Interaction of heredity and environment - ✔✔Our experiences are influenced by the
timing of when our genes are expressed ("turned on") throughout our lifespan; the
timing of genetic expression can be influenced by our experiences
✔✔Sensory and perceptual processes - ✔✔The means by which people receive, select,
modify, and organize stimulation from the world; results in knowing
✔✔Motor skills - ✔✔Coordinated movements of the muscles and limbs; closely related
to sensory and perceptual processes
✔✔Habituation - ✔✔When a novel stimulus is presented, babies pay much attention,
but they pay less attention as it becomes more familiar; used to study perception in
infants
✔✔Auditory threshold - ✔✔The quietest sound that a person can hear; observer will
judge baby's response to different volumes of noise
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Twin studies - ✔✔Compare MZ and DZ twins; MZ twins more alike than DZ twins
(but MZ may be treated more similarly than DZ)
✔✔Adoption studies - ✔✔Compare children with biological and adoptive parents;
children more like adoptive parents (however: selective placement - children's adoptive
parents may resemble their biological parents)
✔✔Reaction range - ✔✔The range of phenotypes that the same genotype may produce
in reaction to the environment where development takes place
"A genotype will lead to a phenotype, but only if the environment cooperates"
ex: intelligence example from class
✔✔Epigenesis - ✔✔The continuous interplay between genes and multiple levels of the
environment that drives development
✔✔Heritability coefficient - ✔✔Estimates the extent to which differences between
people reflect heredity; use of twin and adoption studies
, ✔✔Niche-picking - ✔✔The process of deliberately seeking environments that fit one's
heredity
ex: active child
✔✔Non shared environmental influences - ✔✔The environmental forces that make
siblings different from one another
✔✔Co-dominance - ✔✔Heterozygous gene pairs are fully expressed
ex: chestnut horse and white horse will produce roan offspring; blood type in humans
✔✔Albinism - ✔✔Skin lacks melanin, which causes visual problems and extreme
sensitivity to light
✔✔X-linked disorders - ✔✔Hemophilia, red-green color blindness
✔✔Y-linked disorders - ✔✔Azoospermia, abnormal/absent testicular development,
retinitis pigmentosa
✔✔Patau's syndrome - ✔✔Trisomy 13
✔✔Edwards syndrome - ✔✔Trisomy 18
✔✔Nondisjunction - ✔✔Occur during Meiosis I/II; results in daughter cells with abnormal
chromosome numbers
✔✔Interaction of heredity and environment - ✔✔Our experiences are influenced by the
timing of when our genes are expressed ("turned on") throughout our lifespan; the
timing of genetic expression can be influenced by our experiences
✔✔Sensory and perceptual processes - ✔✔The means by which people receive, select,
modify, and organize stimulation from the world; results in knowing
✔✔Motor skills - ✔✔Coordinated movements of the muscles and limbs; closely related
to sensory and perceptual processes
✔✔Habituation - ✔✔When a novel stimulus is presented, babies pay much attention,
but they pay less attention as it becomes more familiar; used to study perception in
infants
✔✔Auditory threshold - ✔✔The quietest sound that a person can hear; observer will
judge baby's response to different volumes of noise
