Chapter 3 | Hereditary Inuences on Development 115

Our nal theme concerns the holistic nature of child development. Perhaps this
theme is the most basic idea from our investigation of hereditary inuences on development. We saw in this chapter that heredity and environment inuence all aspects of child
development: physical, social, cognitive, and behavioral. Clearly heredity is an important
building block for understanding the child as an integrated labyrinth of inuences and
outcomes in all aspects of psychological functioning.

SUMMARY
Principles of Hereditary Transmission
Development begins at conception, when a sperm cell
from the father penetrates an ovum from the mother,
forming a zygote.
A normal human zygote contains 46 chromosomes (23
from each parent), each of which consists of several thousand strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (or DNA) known as
genes. Genes are the biological basis for the development
of the zygote into a person.
Development of the zygote occurs through mitosis
new body cells are created as the 23 paired chromosomes
in each cell duplicate themselves and separate into two
identical new cells.
Specialized germ cells divide by meiosis to produce gametes (sperm or ova) that each contain 23 unpaired chromosomes. Crossing-over and the independent assortment of
chromosomes ensure that each gamete receives a unique
set of genes from each parent.
Monozygotic (or identical) twins result when a single
zygote divides to create two cells that develop independently into two individuals.
Dizygotic (or fraternal) twins result when two different
ova are each fertilized by a different sperm cell and then
develop independently into two individuals.
Gametes contain 22 autosomes and 1 sex chromosome.
Females sex chromosomes are both X chromosomes;
males sex chromosomes are an X and a Y chromosome.
Ova contain an X chromosome. Sperm contain either
an X or a Y chromosome. Therefore, fathers determine the
sex of their children (depending on whether the sperm that
fertilizes the ovum contains an X or a Y chromosome).
Genes produce enzymes and other proteins that are necessary for the creation and functioning of new cells, and
regulate the timing of development. Internal and external
environments inuence how genes function.
There are many ways in which ones genotype may affect
phenotypethe way one looks, feels, thinks, or behaves.
Some characteristics are determined by a single pair
of alleles, one of which is inherited from each parent.
In simple dominant/recessive traits, the individual displays the phenotype of the dominant allele.
If a gene pair is codominant, the individual displays a phenotype in between those produced by the
dominant and the recessive alleles.

Sex-linked characteristics are those caused by recessive genes on the X chromosome when there is no
corresponding gene on the Y chromosome to mask
its effects; they are more common in males.
Most complex human attributes, such as intelligence
and personality traits, are polygenic, or inuenced by
many genes rather than a single pair.

Hereditary Disorders
Occasionally, children inherit congenital defects (for example, Huntingtons disease) that are caused by abnormal
genes and chromosomes.
Chromosomal abnormalities occur when the individual inherits too many or too few chromosomes.
A major autosomal disorder is Down syndrome, in
which the child inherits an extra 21st chromosome.
Many genetic disorders can be passed to children by
parents who are not affected but are carriers of a recessive allele for the disorder.
Genetic abnormalities may also result from mutationschanges in the structure of one or more genes
that can occur spontaneously or result from environmental hazards such as radiation or toxic chemicals.
Genetic Counseling, Prenatal Detection, and
Treatment of Hereditary Disorders
Genetic counseling informs prospective parents about
the odds of giving birth to a child with a hereditary disorder.
Family histories and medical tests are used to determine
whether the parents are at risk.
Amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and ultrasound are used for prenatal detection of many genetic and
chromosomal abnormalities.
Medical interventions such as special diets, fetal surgery,
drugs and hormones, and gene replacement therapy can
reduce the harmful effects of many heredity disorders (for
example, phenylketonuria, or PKU).
Hereditary Inuences on Behavior
Behavioral genetics is the study of how genes and
environment contribute to individual variations in
development.

116 Part Two | Biological Foundations of Development

Although animals can be studied in selective breeding

experiments, human behavioral geneticists must conduct
family studies (often twin designs or adoption designs),
estimating the heritability of various attributes from similarities and differences among family members who differ
in kinship.
Hereditary contributions to various attributes are
estimated using concordance rates and heritability
coefcients.
Behavioral geneticists can also determine the amount
of variability in a trait that is attributable to nonshared
environmental inuences and shared environmental
inuences.
Family studies reveal that heritability inuences intellectual performance, introversion/extroversion and
empathic concern, and predispositions to display such
disorders as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, neurotic
disorders, alcoholism, and criminality.
Family studies have led social-developmental psychologists to abandon both the parent effects model and the
child effects model and instead to adopt the transactional
model, a model of family inuences in which parent and
child are believed to inuence each other reciprocally.

Theories of Hereditary and Environment

Interactions in Development
The canalization principle implies that genes limit development to certain outcomes that are difcult for the environment to alter.

The range-of-reaction principle states that heredity sets

a range of developmental potentials and the environment
inuences where in that range the individual will fall.
A more recent theory proposes three avenues by which
genes inuence the environments we are likely to experience: through passive genotype/environment correlations, evocative genotype/environment correlations,
and active genotype/environment correlations.
The relative inuence of the different genotype/environment correlations changes across development, with
passive effects predominating in early life, evocative effects
operating throughout life, and active effects not playing a
role until later childhood and adolescence.

Contributions and Criticisms of the

Behavioral Genetics Approach
Behavioral genetics has had a strong inuence on our
outlook on human development by showing that many
attributes previously thought to be environmentally determined are inuenced, in part, by genes.
It has also helped to defuse the nature versus nurture debate by illustrating that these two sources of inuence are
complexly intertwined.
Behavioral genetics has been criticized as an incomplete
theory of development that describes, but fails to explain,
how either genes or environment inuence our abilities,
conduct, and character.

CHAPTER 3 PRACTICE QUIZ

Multiple Choice: Check your understanding of heredity
by selecting the best choice for each question. Answers appear in the Appendix.
1. The process by which a germ cell divides, producing
two gametes (sperm or ovum), is called
a. the double helix
b. crossing-over
c. meiosis
d. mitosis
2. Each gamete (sperm or ovum) contains ____________
chromosomes.
a. 23
b. 46
c. 23 pairs of
d. 46 pairs of
3. Which of the following is an example of a sex-linked
characteristic?
a. dizygotic twinning
b. red/green color blindness
c. sickle-cell anemia
d. polygenic inheritance

4. Congenital defects that are inherited include all of the

following EXCEPT
a. prenatal exposure to damaging effects
b. recessive genes for a disorder
c. dominant genes for a disorder
d. too many or too few chromosomes
5. The discovery that males with __________________
were competing as females in the Olympics led to the
current practice of administering genetic sex tests to all
females in the Olympics.
a. Turners syndrome
b. Klinefelters syndrome
c. Down syndrome
d. Huntingtons disease
6. Which method of detecting heredity disorders is safest
(least risk of miscarriage) for detecting multiple pregnancies and gross physical abnormalities?
a. chorionic villus sampling
b. amniocentesis
c. genetic counseling
d. ultrasound