8.8.1 Investigating the contributions of nature and nurture Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Biology A (Salters-Nuffield), Unit 8

The 20 questions

1. What is meant by nature in the study of brain development?

   • Only the effects of exercise on the heart, which is the only organ that develops through inherited factors
   • Influences from the environment, such as learning and experience, which shape the brain after birth
   • Only the effects of diet on the brain, which are the main influence on development in early life
   • Inherited factors, including genes, that shape how the brain develops

2. What is meant by nurture in the study of brain development?

   • The rate of heart beat only, which is controlled by the environment and not by the brain
   • Environmental influences, such as experience, learning and upbringing, which shape development
   • Inherited genes only, which determine every feature of the brain before birth
   • The number of neurones at birth only, which is fixed by the genes and cannot be changed by experience

3. Which method shows that newborn babies have some abilities before they have had much experience?

   • Measuring blood glucose after feeding only, which shows how the body processes sugar after a meal
   • Counting the number of hair follicles, which shows how the skin develops before birth
   • Measuring preferences, such as a baby's preference for a face-like pattern or a familiar voice
   • Measuring the length of their long bones only, which shows how quickly the skeleton is growing

4. Why are twin studies useful in investigating nature and nurture?

   • Twins always have identical experiences, so environment is irrelevant to any trait that they share
   • Twins cannot share genes, so twin studies are useless for separating genetic and environmental effects
   • Twins show that nature has no effect on the brain, since all differences come from the environment
   • Identical twins share genes, so differences in traits between them can be attributed to environment

5. Which type of twin is genetically identical?

   • Monozygotic twins, which arise from one fertilised egg and share the same genome
   • Dizygotic twins, which arise from two separate eggs fertilised by two separate sperm
   • Cousins, who share a set of grandparents and so share about one eighth of their genes
   • Half-siblings, who share only one parent and so share about a quarter of their genes

6. Why do cross-cultural studies help investigate nature and nurture?

   • They show that all cultures develop identically, which means the environment has no effect on any trait
   • They remove the need for control groups, since the comparison between cultures is enough on its own
   • Comparing people raised in different environments can show which traits vary with culture and which are shared
   • They prove that genes have no role, since people in every culture develop the same way

7. What is the advantage of animal experiments in studying nature and nurture?

   • Animals develop without any influence from their environment, which means their results show the effect of genes alone
   • Animals always have the same brain as humans, so the results can be applied to people without any change
   • Researchers can control the environment and genetics, and can carry out invasive investigations not allowed in humans
   • Animal experiments need no ethical consideration, since animals do not experience any harm in the research

8. Which method investigates how damage to specific brain regions affects behaviour or abilities?

   • Studies of individuals with damaged brain areas, such as following a stroke
   • Measuring the length of hair, which shows how the hair follicles in the scalp are affected by the brain
   • Counting white blood cells, which shows the state of the immune system after an injury to the brain
   • Measuring the size of the eyelids, which shows how the muscles of the face are controlled by the brain

9. A researcher finds that identical twins raised apart have a higher similarity in IQ than non-identical twins raised together. Which conclusion is best supported?

   • Environment has no influence on IQ at all, since the twins raised together were less alike than expected
   • IQ is determined only by diet, which is the only factor that differs between the twin pairs in the study
   • Twins always have identical IQ regardless of genetics, which shows that the environment is irrelevant
   • Genetic influence on IQ is substantial, since the genetically identical pairs are more alike even when raised apart

10. Why is it important to consider both nature and nurture when studying brain development?

    • Development results from interactions between genes and environment, so neither alone explains the outcome
    • Brain development is unaffected by either, since the brain forms in the same way in all people
    • Only genes matter, so environment can be ignored in any study of how the brain develops
    • Only the environment matters, so genes can be ignored in any study of how the brain develops

11. A study measures the ability of newborn babies to follow moving faces. Which conclusion is most appropriate?

    • Babies show some innate preference for face-like patterns, supporting a genetic contribution to early perception
    • Babies learn to see by identical means in all cultures, which means the response is entirely learned
    • Babies cannot see anything, so the following response must be a reflex unrelated to vision
    • Babies learn all faces only after several years, which means they cannot recognise faces at birth

12. Which statement is a limitation of twin studies?

    • Twin studies cannot measure any behaviour, which limits them to physical traits such as height
    • Twins cannot be compared at all, since each pair differs in ways that cannot be measured
    • Twins never have any genetic similarity, so twin studies cannot show any genetic effect at all
    • Twins may share similar environments, which makes environmental effects harder to separate

13. A researcher uses a cross-cultural design but finds that cultures differ in education and diet as well as in the trait of interest. What is the main problem?

    • The study has too many participants, which makes the statistical results unreliable and hard to interpret
    • Cultural differences have no effect, so the diet and education differences can be ignored in the analysis
    • The trait cannot be measured, since the cultures differ too much to be compared on any scale
    • Confounding variables make it hard to attribute differences in the trait to nature or nurture

14. Which of the following best describes the evidence from studies of individuals with damaged brain areas?

    • They show that the brain cannot change at all, which is why damage is always permanent in every person
    • They show that damage has no effect on behaviour, since people with lesions usually recover fully
    • They show that some functions depend on particular brain regions, so brain structure underlies function
    • They prove that brains are identical in every person, since damage affects all brains in the same way

15. A student claims that because identical twins have the same genes, all differences between them are caused by the environment. Which evaluation is correct?

    • Incorrect, because environment has no effect at all, so the differences must come from the genes alone
    • Correct, because genes are the only factor in development, so any difference must come from the environment
    • Partly correct, but differences can also arise from random developmental variation and chance events, not just environment
    • Incorrect, because twins never differ, so the observation that they differ must be an error in the study

16. Which method uses heritability estimates to show the proportion of variation in a trait attributable to genetic differences?

    • Photographing the cerebellum only, which shows the genetic structure of the brain in each person
    • Counting the number of red blood cells, which shows how much the genes affect the body
    • Twin and adoption studies, which compare the similarity of relatives who share different amounts of genes or environment
    • Measuring blood pressure only, which shows the genetic and environmental variation in the heart

17. Which statement about nature and nurture is most accurate?

    • Nature alone determines all brain structure, so the environment has no role in the development of the brain
    • Nature and nurture always act independently with no interaction, so their effects can be added together
    • Nurture is irrelevant once a child is born, since the brain is fixed by the time of birth in all people
    • Nature and nurture interact, with genes influencing how individuals respond to their environment

18. A study compares the reading ability of children who were taught with two different methods. Which design best separates nurture from nature?

    • Testing only one child with each method, which shows the effect of the method on a single individual
    • Using only identical twins in one school, which removes the effect of the teaching method completely
    • Randomly assigning children with similar genetic backgrounds to the two teaching methods
    • Measuring only the children's height, which is a measure of their general development and not reading

19. Which evaluation is most appropriate for the claim that brain development is completely determined by genes?

    • Incorrect, because environmental experience, such as visual input, also shapes development and connections
    • Correct, because genes encode all information about the brain, so the environment cannot change its development
    • Incorrect, because genes have no role in brain development, so the brain forms only from experience
    • Correct, because environment is irrelevant to brain structure, which is set entirely by the genome at conception

20. Which feature of a study of twins or adoptees makes it useful for investigating nature and nurture?

    • Following the same individuals over many years allows changes in traits to be linked to genetic and environmental factors
    • Measuring each person only once at birth, which shows the effect of the genes before any experience
    • Testing only the genes of adults without recording any environment, which isolates the genetic effect
    • Using only people with identical lifestyles, so that no environmental difference is present in the sample

Related quizzes

• Why animals need a circulation and the role of water Quiz · 1.1.1 · 20 questions
• Gas exchange surfaces and Fick's Law Quiz · 2.1.1 · 20 questions
• Common features of living cells Quiz · 3.1.1 · 20 questions
• Biodiversity, endemism and threats to variety of life Quiz · 4.1.1 · 20 questions
• Ecosystems, communities, populations and biotic and abiotic factors Quiz · 5.1.1 · 20 questions
• Time of death, decomposition and forensic entomology Quiz · 6.1.1 · 20 questions
• Structure and function of blood vessels Quiz · 1.1.2 · 20 questions
• Cell membrane structure and the fluid mosaic model Quiz · 2.1.2 · 20 questions
• Eukaryotic ultrastructure and electron micrographs Quiz · 3.1.2 · 20 questions
• Measuring biodiversity: heterozygosity and diversity index Quiz · 4.1.2 · 20 questions