Chapter 4: Genes, Evolution, & Behaviour
Important Points
Genes & Chromosomes
Twin Studies
Intelligence Natural
Selection Mating Systems
Altruism & Aggression
What is the basic cause of human behaviour? Is it something about a
person’s gene’s or is something about the environment they live in? And
how would we be able to tell? Chapter 4 goes into these issues looking at the
relative contribution of genes and the environment to a variety of human
behaviours.
1. Genes and Chromosomes
The first few pages of Chapter 4 deal with the basics of genetic
action. Be sure to note the difference between genotype and
phenotype, and the action of dominant versus recessive traits.
Most interesting human behaviours and traits reflect multiple gene
action. Make sure you know the concept of heritability.
2. Twin Studies
The study of twins is central to an investigation of heritability. We
need some way to estimate the degree of genetic contribution and
looking at identical twins who have been raised apart does this for
us. Note the concept of concordance and the work by Bouchard.
3. Intelligence
Is something as complicated as intelligence heritable? Over the
years, many people have argued that it is. Again the work of
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Bouchard is very important here. When Bouchard reunites identical
twins who were separated at birth, he reports remarkable similarities
in their behaviour. Regarding intelligence, the similarity is also
striking… the correlation between their IQ scores (over a large
number of twins) is around
0.75. This suggests a large genetic component to intelligence.
However, note that the correlation is not 1.0—there is lots of room
for the environment to influence intellectual development. Similar
results are reported for other human traits.
4. Natural Selection
Adaptation and selection is the central theme of Darwin’s theory of
evolution. While we often think of Darwin’s position as being heavily
weighted towards genes, it really talks about how the environment
shapes the selection of traits. This makes good sense. If we were
completely hard-wired for behaviours, but found ourselves in a new
environmental situation, we might be hard-pressed to survive.
Fortunately, the environment helps “choose” the appropriate traits
(and underlying genetic material) to aid in survival. Be familiar with
the material on adaptation and how these contribute to Evolutionary
Psychology.
4. Mating Systems
Since we must pass on genetic material to future generations, it is
important to look at how we actually choose a mate. Evolutionary
psychologists have discussed a number of models for mate
selection, and each is based on parental investment— the time,
effort and energy that a member of a particular species devotes to
raising offspring. Be familiar with the various mating systems. Are
humans monogamous? Or do they follow another model such as
polyandry? Evolutionary theory also has some predictions about
what kind of mate we would most likely look for.
5. Altruism & Aggression
In the final few pages of the chapter, we look two specific
behaviours—altruism (helping behavior) and aggression. It makes
sense that aggression make follow from natural selection…after all
the biggest and the strongest get to survive. But what about helping
behaviour? Can we come up with a genetic mechanism for helping
others? This seems strange. If I run into a burning building to save
someone, don’t I run the risk of getting killed myself? The critical
concept here is kin selection. In essence, it depends on who is in
the building. If my children are in the building, kin selection theory
predicts that I should be willing to sacrifice my life for the lives of my
children because the gene pool survives—“my genes” can still be
passed on through my children. Note the concept of reciprocal
altruism as well.
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The last few pages of the chapter introduce some
important concepts who should try to avoid when thinking about
behavioural genetics. Know these caveats well.