Psychology lifespan
CHAPTER TWO
Biological and Environmental Foundations
OVERVIEW
Choosing Parenthood
Genetics
Genetic Counseling
Fertilization / Conception
CHOOSING PARENTHOOD
Reasons we have children
Good reasons
“Bad” reasons
Do we have to have children today
Wanted / “Unwanted”
When we start our families
The number of children we have
Zero Population Growth (Z.P.G.)
GENETICS, p.1 of 3
GENETICS
Over 64 billion genetic possibilities from same two mates
BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
how nature and nurture increase diversity
GENOME: A genome is the sum total of all an individual organism's genes (Gene Mapping)
GENOMICS: The study of the structure and function of genes. It became popular in the 1990's with the human genome project, which literally mapped out the entire human genome. It looks for changes in the structure of DNA to understand variation/disease.
GENETICS, p.2 of 3
DNA – Chemical that carries the “blue prints” for the formation and function of bodily cells.
Made up of nucleotides
Mutations
Heterozygous – Different alleles
Homozygous – Same alleles
Law of Dominant Inheritance
Law of Recessive Inheritance
Genes – The basic, fundamental unit of heredity. Small segments of DNA with various lengths that code for proteins
Chromosomes – Coils of DNA that carry the genes, 23 pairs (one from each parent)
GENETICS, p.3 of 3
Polygenetic Inheritance – Input from many genes
Multifactorial Inheritance– For complex traits…interaction of gene and environment.
Genotype-Environment Interaction – Certain genetic proneness only expressed with environmental trigger.
i.e. – certain foods triggering MR
Genotype-Environment Correlation – Environment augmenting or decreasing a genetic disposition.
i.e. – David Crosby son
GENETIC COUNSELING
Service Providers
Geneticist, ObGyn, G.P.
Elements
Data collection / Sources
Family history
Medical Work up: Blood, skin, urine samples, Amniocentesis, Sonogram Chronic villas sampling, etc…
Interpretation of Data
Based on the data the likelihood of any genetic “issues”
FERTILIZATION / CONCEPTION
Definition: The union of the sperm and the egg to form a single cell (zygote).
Infertility: Inability to conceive after twelve to eighteen months of trying.
More males conceived and lost
Multiple Births: On the rise
Alternative Methods
Insurance Definition
FERTILIZATION / CONCEPTION
Environment Factors
Family
The “death” of the American family
Different cultures
Socio-Economic Status
Education / Prestige / Income
Involved dads
Community
Early communities in Philadelphia
On a piece of paper (or an email to me), please answer the following questions.
What are the differences between gender and sex?
Is gender fluid?