Chapter 5 Flashcards
Identify genes hormones, as well as structure and function of the brain as the causes of observed differences in cognition, behavior, and even gender roles
Biology Theories of Sex
How has the contribution of genes to femininity and masculinity been examined?
By comparing monozygotic twins
What are Monozygotic Twins?
Identical twins sharing 100% of their genes
What are Dizygotic Twins?
Sharing 50% of their genes
What is the theory behind these twin studies?
Is that genes explain the greater similarity in behavior between identical twins compared to fraternal twins.
Study done by Iervolino et al. 2005:
examined 3-4 year old twins and the environmental contribution to sex-typed behavior
Results for the Iervolino et al. 2005 study showed
- There was a greater correspondence among monozygotic than dizygotic twins
- Greater correspondence between dizygotic twins than siblings
What did the results infer?
TF, inferring that both GENETICS and ENVIRONMENT made significant contributions to SEX-TYPED BEHAVIOR
What was the difference in the Iervolino et al. 2005 study when it came to sex?
The genetic contribution was stronger for girls than for boys
Knofo, Iervolino, Plomin (2005) study used same twins; what was the purpose of this study?
To determine the genetic and environmental contribution to GENDER ATYPICAL BEHAVIOR
The results of the Knofo, Iervolino, and Plomin (2005) study?
Genes were said to acct for a moderate amount of variability but ENVIRONMENT was said to account for a SUBSTANTIAL PORTION of variability
What was the genetic component stronger for, boys or girls?
Girls
Besides examining the contribution of genetics and environment to sex-typed behavior, twin studies have also examined?
Heritability of homosexuality
Heritability of homosexuality shows that:
it is higher among monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins
20%-24% compared to 10% or less
What are the chances that both monozygotic twins turn up homosexual?
far from 100%
A question that we should raise is:
whether the environment for the identical twins is really the same as the environment for fraternal twins.
What is a social behavior for which there are clear cut sex differences when it comes to twin studies? Where is the correlation?
Aggression; there is a correlation b/w monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins when it comes to aggressive behavior
A meta-analysis of 51 twin and adoption studies showed:
genetics accounted for 40% of antisocial behavior
What are adoption studies used for?
They are used to est. the contribution of genes to behavior
What do adoption studies compare in order to show the contribution of genes to behavior?
they compare the similarities in behavior between adopted siblings
to the similarities in behavior between
biological siblings
who have been reared apart
Sex-related chromosomal abnormalities also have been linked to?
Aggression
Some studies have shown a configuration among men in prison, what is this configuration?
Higher than avg. proportion of men with XYY configuration (extra Y chromosome)
Is the configuration of the extra Y chromosome in prisoners TF state that all men with the extra Y chromosomes are in fact prisoners?
no, the vast majority of men with the extra Y chromosomes are not prisoners
Boys w/XYY pattern:
are more irritable and have more temper tantrums than boys that do not have this configuration
What are HORMONES?
These are chemicals produced by the endrocine system that circulate throughout the body
What are the 2 classes of sex-related hormones?
Estrogens
Androgens
What are ESTROGENS?
female sex hormones
What are ANDROGENS?
male sex hormones
Does this mean that only women have estrogens and men only have androgens? If not then what does this mean?
No, it means that females and males have a different amount of estrogens and androgens
What do sex hormones effect?
Brain
Immune System
Overall health
Influence Behavior
An avenue of research that has enabled us to study the effects of hormones on behavior:
Intersex condition
What is INTERSEX CONDITION?
there is some inconsistency between the individual’s chromosomal sex and phenotypical sex
Congential Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
a genetic disorder resulting in a malfunction in the adrenal gland that results into prenatal exposure to high levels of male hormones and lack of cortisol
Girls with CAH may be:
Do boys have any adverse effects?
Girls: may be mistaken for boys their genitals are somewhat masculinized
Boys: do not have any adverse effects
Consequences to CAH: cognition= (girls and boys)
Girls w/CAH have superior spatial skill
Boys w/CAH have inferior spatial skills
Puts et al. 2008
show that there is a curvilinear relation b/w androgens and spatial abilities
Consequences to CAH: Brain Structure= (girls)
Ernst et al. 2007 amygdala activation in CAH females was stronger than females with non-CAH similar to to that among males
Ernst et al. 2007 study:
Brain activation in response to facial emotions
Consequences to CAH: Hormones (girls and boys)
Paterski et al. 2007
compared 3-11 YOA girls and boys to their unaffected siblings
Paterski et al. 2007 study results show?
CAH girls:
Behavior: more active and aggressive than non CAH girls
Play Behavior: played with boy toys rather than girl toys
CAH boys: no difference in Behavior of play behavior
Do exposure to prenatal androgens lead to sexual orientation and identity problems?
No, Majority of CAH females are heterosexual
Deeseens, Slijper, Drop 2005 study:
280 individuals w/CAH reared as females
Results: 13 gender identity prob. and 4 wished to be male
3 Potential Explanations for the link of CAH to spatial skills
- Androgens could affect areas of the brain that are linked to spatial skills, masculine social behavior and sexual orientation
- Androgens could effect the tendency to engage in activities that affect cognition and behavior
- The masculinization of appearance could somehow influence behavior
Sidebare: Does test. cause aggression
there was a weak positive relation of test. to aggression (d=+.28)
What happens to males test with age?
Males test. decreases with age
For males 13-20 YOA what was there most aggressive behavior observed by?
high test. and low cortisol
Is there a correlation between aggression and test.?
yes and therefore no causation
Two ways of examining the effect of hormones on cognitive and behavior?
Intersex Conditions and CAH (congenital adrenal hyperplasia)
Examining the different levels of hormones across women and men to behavior
How do we examine the different levels of hormones across women and men to behavior?
What type of design was used?
What is being measure in this study ?
Results show:
By examining amniotic fluid
Correlation design
Prenatal exposure to test.
6-10 YOA boys and girls have more male play ben.
Age 6 girls and boys have a greater lateralization of lang.
Age 4 girls and boys have less empathy
What is lateralization?
Where there are certain brain processes that are associated to one hemisphere
Improved performance on mental rotation task was with what study?
In this study a healthy woman was given test
This is a syndrome where a child is born with testes instead of a uterus but have female genetialia
Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS)
Why does CAIS occur?
Because all fetuses begin with female genetalia but masculinizing hormones alter the genitals to become male
What happens to children with CAIS?
The testes are surgically removed and reared as females
Historical perception
Does this historical perception stay true? Why or why not?
many people in the medical community believed hormones (and social environment could override genes in determining gender-role behavior
No, evidence Brian and Bruce’s case (Dr. Money)
What heterosexual Script is this:
Male- sex is defining component of masculinity, men always want to have sex and are always thinking about it, men are preoccupied by women’s bodies
Sexual Double Standards
What heterosexual Script is this:
Female- Women are passive in sexual relations, women are judged by their sexual conduct, good girls are women who do not have sex, women set the limits on sex.
Sexual Double Standards
Male- men initiate courship behavior, men use dominant and powerful strategies to attract women, men are valued for their strength, wealth, and power
Courtship
Female- women are passive and alluring, women use indirect strategies to attract men, women are valued for their appearance, women use appearance and bodies to attract men
Courtship
male- Men avoid commitment and emotional attachment, men want independence, men prefer sex over emotional commitment
Commitment attitudes
Female- Romantic relationships are priority for women, women need a man to be fulfilled
Commitment attitudes
Gender Identity is from what theory?
Cognitive development theory
Gender Identity is when
by age 2 and 3 children learn labels (boy and girl). These labels are based on superficial characteristics of people rather than biology. changing form man to women with a wardrobe change
in cognitive development by age 5 children learn?
Gender constancy
What is gender constancy?
They can categorize themselves as male or female and know that they cannot change their category.
according to cognitive development theory, gender identity determine what?
gender-role attitudes and values TF having a high motivation to behave in ways cinsistent with their self-concept
What is one limitation of Kohlberg’s Cognitive development Theory?
He states that gender constancy must be achieved before children will value and seek out behavior that fits their gender role, yet children who have not achieved gender constancy already choose sex-typed ben.
these two individuals have advanced the notion of Social Cognitive Theory which states
Bussy and Bandura
Social Cognitive theory: cognitive development is one factor in gender-role acquisition, but there are social influences as well such as parents and peers
A Theory that states external sources have the initial influence on behavior
social cognitive theory
Emphasizes the interplay between psychological and social influences
Social cognitive theory by bussy and bandura
a construct that ,contains the information about the features of a category as well as its association with other categories
schema
Gender schematic?
someone who is gender schematic uses the gender category to make a decisions about what to wear, how to behave, what career to pursue, what leisure interests to pursue, and what emotion to present
Gender aschematic?
does not consider gender when making these decisions
Androgyny?
Bem linked gender aschematicity to the construct of androgyny by saying that this person would incorporate traditional fem. and mas. qualities into his/her self-concept
When it comes to sex-typed individuals endorsing info that is consistent with their gender-role schemas compared to cross-sex typed, androgynous, and undifferentiated individuals, how do the sex type react?
The sex-typed individuals are more quick to endorse info that is consistent with their gender schema and slower when the info that is to be endorsed is inconsistent with there gender schema
Bem wrote a book on
A biography on how she was an egalitarian marriage and her gender schematic child rearing
This theory states that the acquisition of gender roles takes place in the child’s head
Cognitive development theory
According to this, different people and objects in a child’s environment provide rewards and models that shape behavior to fit gender-role norms
Gender-role socialization
Social Learning theory states that we learn behavior in 2 ways: (primary acquisitions)
- learn behavior that is modeled
2. we learn ben. that is reinforced
A physician and psychoanalyst who developed a theory of personality, most notable for its emphasis on the effect of the subconscious?
Sigmund Freud
Freuds Phallic stage is when
stage 3 ages 3 and 6 when children discover their gentiles and become aware that only boys have a penis
Applies to the principles of evolution to the study of cognition and behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
examines the biological origins of social ben. (how social ben. evolved over time to perpetuate the species
Sociobiology
this model argues that nature and nurture are not two mutually exclusive categories but categories that interact with one another
shows the interrelation between biological, psychological, and social influences
Psychobiosocial models
what are some conditions that influence observational learning?
- Positive relationship between the observer and the model
- Consequences of the model’s behavior or more positive than negative
- Model is in a power position
- If the model is of the same sex and behaves in a gender-role congruent way
this phrase was used by Pollack when describing the pressure boys face to keep their emotions to themselves and to maintain an emotional distance from others which has been linked to what?
the “boy side”
aggression
This consists of toughness, dominance, emotional detachment, callousness toward women, eagerness to seek out danger, and competition
what is this and who uses it?
Myrian Miedzian
Masculine mystique
who is the mascuine mystique dangerous for?
the lower-class boys
Staples states that higher rates of violence in Black communities may stem from what?
“relative deprivation”
the same test was given but Depending on how the test was presented depended on what kind of women did better
when the test was presented as a measure of empathy, feminine women performed better than masculine woman. when the test was presented as a measure spatial ability masculine women performed better than feminine women
who are prime candidates for contributing gender-role socialization?
Parents
Where is one area where parents treat children differently?
emotion
Proactive aggression
is unprovoked, planned, goal directed, and socially motivated
Reactive aggression
is an angry, impulsive response to threat or provocation more clearly tied to the frustration-aggression hypothesis
This type of aggression has been associated with peer rejection and peer victimization
Reactive aggression
This type of aggression have to do with groups that may gang up on or target a specific individuals. These children accept to be rewarded for their behavior
Proactive aggression
This type of aggression is associated with anger and physiological arousal
reactive aggression
this type of aggression is associated with lack of physiological arousal
proactive aggression
toys, books, television, advertisements
these are other features that we are socialized by
Deaux and Major’s model emphasizes 3 determinants of whether sex difference in behavior is displayed, what are they?
- the perceiver’s expectancies
- the target’s (i.e. person who may or may not display the sex difference) self-concept
- the situation
Corpus collosum
The arched bridge of nerve tissue that that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, allowing communication between the right and left side of the brain
Reproductive success
passing of genes onto the next generation a way that they too can pass on those genes
Any investment or expenditure generated by the mother (time, energy) generated by the mother for an individual offspring thus increasing its chances of survival and improving its well-being and reproductive success
Maternal investment
From a male perspective, there is always some possibility that another male has fertilized the female’s egg and thus the male’s own genetic contribution to the female’s offspring in in question
Paternity uncertainty
the theory that there are two entities, mind and body, each of which can have an effect on the other
interactionism
A complex of males to posses the mother sexually and to exclude the father
Oedipal complex
a mental process that you are not directly aware of
unconscious process
the act of identifying, the state of being identified
identification
People relate to others and situations in their adult lives as shaped by family experiences during infancy. Describes the process of developing a psychy as one grows up
object relations theory
refers to the subjective awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one’s own violation actions against the world
agency
one controlling the behavior of others in order to get what one wants
egoistic dominance
an individual difference variable that describes the extent to which one is more concerned with self-presentation or self-verification
Self-monitering
The target of an interaction influences whether she or he displays behavior consistent with stereotypes about sex differences by two processes:
self-verification
self-presentation
our concern with behaving in ways consistent with our self-concept.
self-verification
our concern with how our behavior appears to others
self-presentation
in Deaux and Majors 1987 Modal of social interaction for gender related behavior
in every situation the perceiver is also the target and the target is also a perceiver
process by which a perceiver’s expectation actually alters the target’s behavior so the target comes to confirm the perceiver’s expectancy
Behavioral confirmation
idea that individuals see what they want to see
cognitive confirmation
