Deck 2: Biological Foundations: Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth 

Question 1

Within a typical human cell, which number is the greatest?

A)The number of chromosomes
B)The number of autosomes
C)The number of genes
D)The number of different types of nucleotide bases

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which process can best be explained by alleles?

A)The fact that phenotypes produce genotypes
B)The formation of  identical twins through the splitting of a fertilized egg
C)The instructions for hair color come from two sources on the chromosome
D)The teratogenic effects associated with fetal alcohol syndrome

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Genotype is to phenotype as

A)homozygous is to heterozygous.
B)nurture is to nature.
C)DNA is to RNA.
D)chromosome pattern is to physical features.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A sperm cell contains a total of 22

A)genes.
B)chromosomes.
C)autosomes.
D)sex cells.

Question 5

If you were looking through a microscope at a normal sperm cell, you should see ____ chromosomes.

A)​2
B)​22
C)​23
D)​46

Question 6

The first ____ pairs of chromosomes are called autosomes.

A)​2
B)​10
C)​22
D)​46

Question 7

Thymine and cytosine are types of  ​

A)genes.
B)neurotransmitters produced in the brain.
C)autosomes.
D)basic chemical compounds that form the double helix of a DNA molecule.

Question 8

What is an example of only your genotype?

A)Your complete set of genes
B)Your physical appearance
C)Your behaviors
D)Your personality

Question 9

What combination would result in a boy? ​

A)A 17th pair of chromosomes with one X and one Y
B)A 23rd pair of chromosomes with one X and one Y
C)A 17th  pair of chromosomes with two Xs
D)A 23rd pair of chromosomes with two Xs

Question 10

Igor is approached by a mad scientist who says he will pay Igor either $100 for each pair of his autosomes or $500 for each pair of his sex chromosomes. Assuming Igor wants to make as much money as possible, which offer should he take?

A)$100 for each pair of autosomes
B)$500 for each pair of sex chromosomes
C)Either one, because Igor will make the same amount with both offers
D)Neither one, because humans have neither autosomes nor sex chromosomes

Question 11

Who has created a gene?

A)Tom, who has strung together four adenine "beads"
B)Dick, who has just removed the sex chromosome from a cell
C)Harry, who has just generated a single bead of guanine
D)Sally, who has added an extra chromosome to a fertilized egg

Question 12

You are currently experiencing severe pain in your leg and go to your physician for a checkup. During the examination, your physician says, "The pain you are experiencing appears to be due to misshapen blood cells that are blocking the flow of oxygen to your leg." This would indicate that the most accurate diagnosis of your condition would be

A)cerebral palsy.
B)Huntington's disease.
C)sickle-cell disease.
D)hemophilia.

Question 13

Genes provide the cell with a specific set of ____ instructions.

A)hormonal
B)biochemical
C)in vitro
D)bioelectric

Question 14

The threadlike structures in the nucleus of a cell that contain genetic material are called

A)chromosomes.
B)germ discs.
C)ectoderms.
D)phenotypes.

Question 15

Human DNA is composed of a total of ____ different nucleotide bases.

A)​4
B)​23
C)​444
D)​30,000

Question 16

Homozygous is to heterozygous as

A)same is to different.
B)recessive is to dominant.
C)genotype is to phenotype.
D)many is to few.

Question 17

How many DNA molecules are typically contained in each human chromosome?

A)​1
B)​46
C)​468
D)​100,000

Question 18

The average child has approximately ____ genes.

A)​25
B)​25,000
C)​25,000,000
D)​25,000,000,000

Question 19

Kyoko is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, plays tennis, and is an all-around nice person. This is a description of Kyoko's

A)allele.
B)genotype.
C)homozygosity.
D)phenotype.

Question 20

When looking through a microscope at an entire set of human male chromosomes, how would you be able to differentiate an autosome pair from a sex chromosome pair?

A)The sex chromosome pair would be about 10 times larger than the autosome pair.
B)The circular-shaped cells would be the autosomes and the square shapes would be the sex chromosomes.
C)There would be three cells in the autosome "pair" and two cells in the sex chromosome "pair."
D)The shape of the sex chromosomes would differ, whereas each autosome pair would look identical.

Question 21

What should Danko do when he is informed that his newborn son has PKU (phenylketonuria)? ​

A)Panic, since PKU is an incurable genetic disorder that results in severe intellectual disability
B)Don't panic, since PKU can be cured with drug treatments
C)Don't panic, since PKU is a sex-linked disorder that affects only females
D)Don't panic, since despite being a genetic disorder, it can be controlled through proper diet

Question 22

Which best exemplifies the concept of incomplete dominance? ​

A)An individual with two alleles for baldness who has long hair
B)An individual with two alleles for shyness who is shy
C)An individual with one allele for obesity and another for thinness who is of average weight
D)An individual with a single allele for aggression who is violent

Question 23

If obesity is dominant and designated as "O" and thinness is recessive and designated as "t," how many of the following individuals would likely be obese:  Ginger who is "OO," Mary Ann who is "Ot," Thurston who is "tO," and Gilligan who is "tt"?

A)​1
B)​2
C)​3
D)​4

Question 24

Following a prenatal exam, your physician remarks, "It appears as if your fetus has 47 chromosomes." What would be the most likely response to this information?

A)Concern, as this may indicate that your child has Down syndrome
B)Concern, as this may indicate that your child has sickle-cell anemia
C)Concern, as this may indicate that your child has phenylketonuria (PKU)
D)Relief, since this is a normal number of chromosomes

Question 25

Kirk is heterozygous for cheek dimples but is born with big dimples in both cheeks. Apparently, the allele for cheek dimples is

A)dominant.
B)sex-linked.
C)recessive.
D)polygenetic.

Question 26

Joseph is homozygous for normal blood cells. This means that he ​

A)is an identical twin.
B)has matching alleles.
C)has recessive alleles.
D)is likely to develop sickle-cell anemia.

Question 27

Janaka's two-year-old daughter is mentally retarded due, in part, to a diet that included fish, bread, and dairy products. The most likely diagnosis for Janaka's daughter is that she has ​

A)Turner's syndrome.
B)Huntington's disease.
C)Tay Sachs disease.
D)Phenylketonuria (PKU).

Question 28

How would you create an individual who will definitely have blue eyes?

A)Make sure he has a pair of homozygous chromosomes for blue eyes.
B)Make sure he has a pair of heterozygous chromosomes for eye color.
C)Make sure he has a pair of alleles for eye color.
D)Make sure he has one recessive gene for blue eyes.

Question 29

Dr. Fry has just been informed that his son has sickle-cell trait. As a knowledgeable physician, Dr. Fry would realize that his son's body is most likely to experience

A)excess levels of body fat.
B)serious oxygen deprivation.
C)decreased lung capacity.
D)blindness.

Question 30

If tallness is dominant and designated as "T," and shortness is recessive and designated as "s," who would likely be short?

A)Bing, who is "sT"
B)Crosby, who is "Ts"
C)Danny, who is "ss"
D)Kay, who is "TT"

Question 31

Because of his accurate knowledge of genetics and disorders, Benson knows that his newborn son has no chance of having ​

A)Turner's syndrome.
B)Kleinfelter's syndrome.
C)Huntington's disease.
D)Down syndrome.

Question 32

Huntington's disease is an unusual genetic disorder in that it is a fatal disease caused by dominant alleles that ​

A)impact late enough in life so that the individual can reproduce.
B)are controllable through diet.
C)both must come from the mother.
D)strike only males.

Question 33

Linda has one allele for curly hair and another for straight hair. Linda's alleles are

A)polyzygotic.
B)dizygotic.
C)homozygous.
D)heterozygous.

Question 34

Which physical characteristic is most indicative of an individual with Down syndrome? ​

A)Enlarged head
B)A fold of skin over each eyelid
C)Small tongue
D)Taller than same-age peers

Question 35

____ is characterized by progressive degeneration of the nervous system.

A)Huntington's disease
B)Down syndrome
C)Phenylketonuria
D)Sickle-cell disease

Question 36

"Trisomy  21" (three 21st chromosomes)best describes ​

A)Huntington's disease.
B)Down syndrome.
C)Phenylketonuria (PKU).
D)sickle-cell trait.

Question 37

Which combination of sex chromosomes is not possible in a living human being?

A)A single X chromosome
B)XXY
C)XYY
D)A single Y chromosome

Question 38

If a person had a dominant allele for blonde hair and a recessive allele for red hair, the probability of that person having red hair would be closest to ____ percent. ​

A)​0
B)​25
C)​50
D)​100

Question 39

Which maternal characteristic is most strongly associated with giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome?

A)Low levels of intelligence (i.e., mental retardation)
B)Consumption of alcohol
C)Higher maternal age
D)Exposure to lead or mercury

Question 40

Which statement concerning the sickle-cell trait is true?

A)Individuals with the trait have the dominant phenotype but possess the recessive genotype.
B)Individuals with the trait have both a dominant and recessive allele for the disorder.
C)Individuals with the trait are genetically predisposed to the disorder but cannot display any symptoms.
D)Individuals with the trait tend to have the most severe form of the disease.

Question 41

As dizygotic twins, Jewel and Bjork

A)are genetically identical.
B)must have come from the same fertilized egg.
C)share all phenotypes.
D)share about half of their genes.

Question 42

A heritability coefficient is a derivation of a(n)

A)t-test.
B)analysis of variance.
C)correlation.
D)chi-square.

Question 43

Despite being raised in two very different environments, identical twins Tina and Gina receive a similar score on a shyness scale. These results suggest that correlation between genetics and shyness is

A)small.
B)large.
C)inverse.
D)polygenetic.

Question 44

Which result would not support the idea that genes play a significant role in behavior? ​

A)Finding dizygotic twins to be more similar than monozygotic twins
B)Finding children to be more similar to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents
C)Finding similarities between biological siblings
D)Finding monozygotic twins to be more similar than pairs of unrelated individuals

Question 45

Jack and Jill are twins. Because he is a boy, Jack's parents encourage him to run. However, they discourage Jill from engaging in athletic activity. As a result, Jack is much faster at running up a hill than Jill. The difference in Jack and Jill's behavior is best explained by

A)nonshared environmental influences.
B)active gene-environment relations.
C)polygenetic effects.
D)niche-picking.

Question 46

Genes and environments

A)interact dynamically throughout development.
B)act independently throughout development.
C)interact dynamically in childhood and independently in adulthood.
D)act independently in childhood and interact dynamically in adulthood.

Question 47

Which statement is true? ​

A)Environmental influences within a family typically make children within a family different
B)Genes cannot influence the kind of environment to which a person is exposed
C)Behavioral consequences of genetic instructions are independent from environmental factors
D)The impact of environment on heredity wanes with age

Question 48

Nonshared environmental influences involve forces that make siblings ​

A)act in virtually identical ways.
B)homozygous.
C)dizygotic twins.
D)different from one another.

Question 49

_________ occurs when an individual intentionally seeks out an environment that matches characteristics driven by his or her genes.

A)Passive gene-environment interactions
B)Incomplete dominance
C)Niche-picking
D)Polygenetic inheritance

Question 50

Which individual with a genetic predisposition toward being extroverted is demonstrating successful niche-picking?

A)Wink, who is a game-show host
B)Wilbur, who is a horse trainer
C)Sebastian, who is a hermit who lives in a cave by himself
D)Dexter, who spends a lot of time studying in the library

Question 51

As a behavioral geneticist, Juan would most likely be studying ​

A)the maze-learning behavior of rats.
B)the evolution of intelligence.
C)a gene that is believed to cause shyness.
D)the physiological structure of a gene.

Question 52

John and Wayne have the exact same genes. This indicates that they must be

A)dizygotic twins.
B)monozygotic twins.
C)heterozygous.
D)co-dominant.

Question 53

Which statement best exemplifies the basic premise of behavioral genetics? ​

A)"Your personality is all in your genes"
B)"Your personality is all in your environment"
C)"People are either very open to new experiences or avoid new experiences at all costs"
D)"Openness to new experience is not an either/or proposition but represents a wide range of reactions"

Question 54

The concept that genotypes are not the only things that control traits involves the fact that

A)dizygotic twins are virtually genetically identical.
B)each genotype can produce a variety of phenotypes.
C)recessive genes are more commonly expressed than dominant genes.
D)the environment has little impact on behavior.

Question 55

Genotypes usually involve some combination of dominant and recessive alleles. What is the most common inheritance pattern? ​

A)Two dominant and six recessive
B)Six dominant and two recessive
C)All recessive
D)Four dominant and four recessive

Question 56

As a behavioral geneticist, Professor Klink is most likely to calculate the extent to which depression is inherited using a ____ coefficient. ​

A)nonshared
B)DNA
C)polygenetic
D)heritability

Question 57

A heritability coefficient of ____ means about 50 percent of the difference between people on a specific characteristic is the result of heredity.

A).​5
B)​5
C)​50
D)​500

Question 58

José, who was adopted at birth, is found to have personality characteristics more similar to his biological mom than to his adoptive mom. How should you interpret this data?

A)Personality appears to be a polygenetic characteristic.
B)Personality characteristics are learned.
C)Personality characteristics are influenced by genes.
D)Personality characteristics appear to be recessive.

Question 59

Monozygotic is to dizygotic as

A)one mother is to two mothers.
B)one egg is to two eggs.
C)dominant is to recessive.
D)heterozygous is to homozygous.

Question 60

If a physician informed you that your speech disorder was the result of problems on chromosomes 4, 7, and 15, you would rightly conclude that the disorder is always classifiable as ​

A)recessive.
B)polygenetic.
C)dominant.
D)sex-linked.

Question 61

The uniting of the egg and sperm (conception)typically takes place in the

A)uterus.
B)testes.
C)fallopian tube.
D)ovary.

Question 62

If Agnieszka found out that she was conceived through in vitro fertilization, she would know for certain that

A)she was conceived in a Petri dish.
B)she was conceived inside a fallopian tube.
C)her biological parents were not the same as the parents who reared her.
D)the woman who carried her as a baby was not the woman who reared her.

Question 63

At five weeks after conception, a developing human is most accurately called a(n)

A)embryo.
B)zygote.
C)fetus.
D)neonate.

Question 64

Prenatal development begins ​

A)with sperm production.
B)with ovulation.
C)at conception.
D)at implantation into the uterus.

Question 65

Which statement concerning in vitro fertilization is false ?

A)The odds of having twins or triplets may increase.
B)About 90 percent of in vitro fertilization attempts are successful.
C)The procedure is not typically covered by insurance.
D)There is an increased risk of birth defects in infants conceived using the procedure.

Question 66

The period of the zygote begins with

A)ovulation.
B)ejaculation.
C)implantation.
D)fertilization.

Question 67

Damage to cells in the embryo's ____ layer would be most likely to result in the development of a defective digestive system.

A)endoderm
B)placenta
C)ectoderm
D)mesoderm

Question 68

The point at which a zygote burrows into the uterine wall is referred to as ​

A)fertilization.
B)implantation.
C)niche-picking.
D)dilation.

Question 69

Whose behavior best exemplifies eugenics? ​

A)Dr. Green, who uses an in vitro fertilization technique
B)Dr. Black, who allows only certain individuals to mate
C)Dr. White, who studies the effects of thalidomide on prenatal development
D)Dr. Brown, who closely monitors the nutrition of expecting mothers

Question 70

Pregnant Patty's body is currently experiencing the event that triggers hormonal changes that will prevent further menstruation. This event is called

A)implantation.
B)conception.
C)dilation.
D)effacement.

Question 71

A physician has just informed pregnant Moesha that the human organism developing inside of her has just begun to show differentiation of its cells. As a knowledgeable student, you would know that such an organism is technically call a(n)​

A)embryo.
B)zygote.
C)fetus.
D)neonate.

Question 72

Hair and the nervous system develop during the embryonic period from cells contained in the ____ layer.

A)mesoderm
B)endoderm
C)placenta
D)ectoderm

Question 73

The ____ is the cluster of cells in the center of the zygote that will eventually develop into the baby. ​

A)Amnion
B)stem cell
C)germ disc
D)placenta

Question 74

Which event occurs following in vitro fertilization?

A)A fertilized egg is placed directly into the uterus.
B)A sperm is injected directly into the fallopian tube.
C)A fertilized egg is directly placed in the ovary.
D)A single sperm is injected directly into a fertilized egg.

Question 75

The ____ is the structure through which a mother and an embryo exchange waste and nutrients.

A)amnion
B)stem cell
C)germ disc
D)placenta

Question 76

Which period is not considered part of prenatal development? ​

A)Period of the fetus
B)Period of the zygote
C)Period of the neonate
D)Period of the embryo

Question 77

The period of the ____ lasts for approximately two weeks. ​

A)embryo
B)zygote
C)fetus
D)neonate

Question 78

The developing human organism that has just become completely embedded in the wall of the uterus is called the ​

A)amnion.
B)fetus.
C)zygote.
D)embryo.

Question 79

What began as a single fertilized egg has just separated into two distinct eggs. This indicates the formation of ____ twins that has occurred during the ____ period of development.

A)fraternal; zygotic
B)fraternal; embryonic
C)identical; zygotic
D)identical; embryonic

Question 80

A developing human that is traveling from a fallopian tube to the uterus would most accurately be described as a(n)

A)embryo.
B)fetus.
C)zygote.
D)amnion.