Exploring an individual's temperament
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- Exploring an individual's temperament
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Exploring an individual's temperament
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[ID] => 559178
[post_author] => 12815
[post_date] => 2025-04-28 13:56:13
[post_date_gmt] => 2025-04-28 17:56:13
[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-5)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Many suggestions have been made as to the origins of human personality. Is personality chiefly attributable to a person’s learned attributions about the social world? Is it contained within a person’s genes? This simple choice between nature and nurture is made more complex by the issue of temperament.
Even from infancy, children show substantial variability in their reactions to the environment. One child enjoys rough play, isn’t easily distracted, and seeks out new or thrilling events; a different child is fearful, is easily distractible, and cries when exposed to low levels of stimulating play. These reactions, along with their regulating mechanisms, constitute the child’s temperament. Mary K. Rothbart defines temperament as, “individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity measured by latency, intensity, and recovery of response, and self-regulation processes such as effortful control that modulate reactivity.” These differences are biologically influenced and linked to a person’s genetic inheritance.
The study of temperament dates back thousands of years, but remains current through studies in molecular genetics. Environmental contributions to personality development can be seen in the methylation and histone modification of stress hormone receptors based on alternative rat mothering patterns. Working together, temperament and experience ‘‘develop’’ a personality, which includes an individual’s developing cognitions about self, others, and the social and physical world, in addition to his or her attitudes, values, and coping strategies.
[post_title] => Exploring an individual's temperament
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[question] => Methylation and histone modifications can occur along segments of deoxyribonucleic acid capable of synthesizing a protein. What is the term for this unit of genetic information?
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[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
The question refers to the functional unit of heredity.
Gametes represent a cellular unit, whereas chromosomes, genomes, and genes all refer to units of genetic material.
Genes are small segments of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein. Genes are the functional unit of heredity.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Genes
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[each_answer] => B. Genomes
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[each_answer] => C. Chromosomes
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[each_answer] => D. Gametes
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[1] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3873426850
[question] => Increased epigenetic influence on behavior trait within a population would cause measured heritability to:
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity which are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence.
Increased environmental (non-genetic) influence in trait variation in a population reduces the percentage of variation attributable to gene variation.
Increased epigenetic influence on behavior reduces the percentage of variation attributable to gene variation; thus, heritability is decreased.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Remain constant
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[each_answer] => B. Increase
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[each_answer] => C. Alternate cyclically
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[each_answer] => D. Decrease
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[quiz_unique_key] => 2261298308
[question] => What is one example of epigenetic influence on behavior presented by the passage?
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[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
The passage mentions two specific examples of epigenetic influence.
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity which are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence.
The passage specifically mentions methylation and histone modification as examples of epigenetic influence.
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[each_answer] => A. Methylation
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[each_answer] => B. Benefaction
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[each_answer] => C. Cognition
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[each_answer] => D. Hereditary
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[quiz_unique_key] => 2377279144
[question] => If a researcher wanted to quantify the genetic influence on temperament looking at genetic variability within a controlled environment, which type of study would be most appropriate?
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Monozygotic twins are genetically identical.
Monozygotic twins are genetically identical, and do not allow for genetic variability within a study. The question asks for a study in which behavioral traits of an offspring can be compared with biological and non-biological parents.
Adoption studies allow for comparison of an offspring’s behavioral traits with biological and non-biological parents.
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[each_answer] => A. Separated monozygotic twin study
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[each_answer] => B. Adoption study
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[each_answer] => C. Monozygotic twin study
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[each_answer] => D. Non-twin sibling study
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[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => Given the relationship between heredity and experience in personality development described in the passage, which principle is NOT supported by the passage?
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
The passage reads: “These differences are biologically influenced and linked to a person’s genetic benefaction.”
The passage describes a relationship between genes and environment.
Although environmental and genetic factors may be distinct, they do affect one another in important ways.
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[each_answer] => A. Environment regulates patterns of behavior.
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[each_answer] => B. Environmental and genetic factors are distinct and do not affect one another.
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[each_answer] => C. Environment factors mediate genetic expression.
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[each_answer] => D. Genes influence temperament.
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