Study Guide Exam 4 – Final Exam
Be able to interpret data from studies on personality disorders, drug abuse, health
psychology and studies that include environmental variables
Know the design and purpose of a adoption studies, family studies, twin studies, and cotwin control studies; be able to predict and/or interpret the results of these types of studies
with any phenotype
Know how we determine whether different disorders or different subtypes of disorders
are influenced by the same or different genes; be able to interpret the results of these
types of studies
Be able to take data on the resemblance between relative pairs and estimate the genetic
and environmental components of variance that are influencing the trait
Know the general trends and results for the genetic and environmental influences on each
of the disorders we have discussed (e.g., which ones are largely genetically influenced,
are there developmental trends, etc.)
Be able to recognize, report and interpret the results of the Caspi 2001 study that we
discussed in the section on personality
Know why some supposedly environmental traits may actually be genetically influenced;
be able to come up with plausible reasons why these genetic influences may exist
What are the main results of research on the environment? What are the general findings?
What is the special twin environment? How do we test for it? What does it mean? What
are examples of the special twin environment?
What are the general findings in the field of substance abuse?
What parts of substance abuse are genetically influenced? What parts are
environmentally influenced?
What do we know about the genetic influences on substance use?
What is a genotype-environment correlation? What types are there? How do we detect
them? Be able to provide examples of each type for a specified trait. Be able to interpret
data from studies of these correlations
What is a genotype-environment interaction? How do we detect them? Be able to
interpret data from studies of these interactions
Know the difference between genotype-environment correlations versus interactions
Be able to recognize and describe the basic function of specific genes we discussed in
lecture (e.g., DRD4 is “Dopamine Receptor D4” and codes for a protein that acts as a
dopamine receptor in the brain). Know the general findings for genes that have been
associated with specific traits