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Adolescence 9/e Book Cover
Adolescence, 9/e
John W. Santrock, University of Texas, Dallas

Biological Development

Key Terms

active (niche-picking) genotype-environment correlations  Occur when adolescents seek out environments they find compatible and stimulating.
adoption study  A study in which investigators seek to discover whether, in behavior and psychological characteristics, adopted children and adolescents are more like their adoptive parents, who provided a home environment, or their biological parents, who contributed their heredity. Another form of adoption study is to compare adoptive and biological siblings.
androgen  The main class of male sex hormones.
basal metabolism rate (BMR)  is the minimum amount of energy an individual uses in a resting state.
behavior genetics  The study of the degree and nature of behavior’s hereditary basis.
estrogen  The main class of female sex hormones.
evocative genotype-environment correlations  Occur when the adolescent’s genotype elicits certain types of physical and social environments.
genotype  A person’s genetic heritage; the actual genetic material.
hormones  Powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream.
menarche  A girl’s first menstruation.
neurons  Are the nervous system’s basic units.
nonshared environmental influences  The adolescent’s own unique experiences, both within a family and outside the family that are not shared by another sibling.
passive genotype-environment correlations  Occur when parents who are genetically related to the child provide a rearing environment for the child.
phenotype  The way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observed and measurable characteristics.
puberty  A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that occur primarily in early adolescence.
shared environmental influences  Adolescent’s common environmental experiences that are shared with their sibling, such as their parents’ personalities and intellectual orientation, the family’s social class, and the neighborhood in which they live.
spermarche  A boy’s first ejaculation of semen.
twin study  A study in which the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins.