Chapter 13: Contemplating Modern Human Diversity Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Chapter 13: Contemplating Modern Human Diversity Deck (19)
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1
Q

race

A

in general biology, a category often considered synonymous with “subspecies,” into which individuals can be placed based on distinctive physiological, morphological, and/or ecological features; it is now generally held that the complexity of human biobehavioural variation cannot be usefully understood in terms of race

2
Q

folk taxonomies

A

informal albeit consensual classifications of the world used by ordinary people in everyday life

3
Q

monogenists

A

18th- and 19th- century scholars who believed that all human populations (“races”) could be traced to a single origin (mono + genesis), specifically related to Judeo-Christian accounts of human rights; the diversity of human races were ascribed to exposure to different climates following humanity’s fall from grace as related in the Old Testament

4
Q

polygenesis

A

in contrast to monogenesis, polygenesis maintains that different human races were created as separate species; note that both monogenesis and polygenesis assign primacy to European people

5
Q

epicanthic fold

A

a fold of skin of the upper eyelid adjacent to the bridge of the nose covering the medial canthus (corner) of the eye, commonly present in peoples of central and eastern Asian ancestry

6
Q

polytypic

A

“many types”; refers to the existence of geographic variation within species

7
Q

polymorphic

A

refers to the existence of alternative forms of a trait (e.g., eye colour in humans is polymorphic)

8
Q

local breeding populations

A

groups of individuals within geographically dispersed species who find mates in a local region rather than from farther afield

9
Q

cline

A

a continuous gradient observed in geographical space over which the frequency of expression of a character changes across contiguous populations

10
Q

human leukocyte antigens (HLAs)

A

HLAs are the chief component of the major histocompatibility complex and regulate the human immune response

11
Q

multilocus analysis

A

a method for characterizing genetic diversity at multiple sites, or loci, within the genome

12
Q

feeble-mindedness

A

an artificial construct that suggested that defects of personality, intellect, ethnicity, or behaviour were inborn, and so could be selected against by policies restricting reproduction; sterilization was often the method of choice

13
Q

negative eugenics

A

programs or policies designed to prevent successful reproduction in targeted groups (via conception or sterilization)

14
Q

positive eugenics

A

programs or policies advocating reproduction among the favoured sectors of society, typically those of the dominant social and economic classes

15
Q

monozygotic (MZ)

A

twins derived from a single zygote; commonly called “identical twins,” they result from splitting of the fertilized egg very early in pregnancy (at the blastocyst stage), and so possess the same genome

16
Q

additive effect

A

in quantitative genetics, refers to a genetic contribution to a trait that either increases or decreases (if the effect has a “negative value”) the degree of expression

17
Q

cultural intelligence

A

the capacity of humans to acquire early in life complex skills for negotiating social situations

18
Q

pathophysiology

A

a disturbance of normal body function as a result of disease, genetic disorder, or impaired development

19
Q

placebo

A

a medical intervention (drug or procedure) that has no demonstrable therapeutic effect, often used in clinical trials