Child Development L5

Question 1

Define genetic sex

Answer 1

Chromosomal sex.

Question 2

Define morphological sex

Answer 2

The physical characteristics typical of sex, ie female vs male anatomy.

Question 3

Define gender identity

Answer 3

One’s private sense of self as being male or female.

Question 4

Define a gender role

Answer 4

A cultural expectation about ways in which men and women should behave.

Question 5

Define gender stereotype

Answer 5

Beliefs about differences in behaviors, abilities, and personality traits of males and females.

Question 6

Children begin to show the beginnings of gender typed preferences at …

Answer 6

18 months old.

Question 7

What are the beginnings of gender typed prefererences?

Answer 7

Gravitation towards traditionally gendered toys, gravitation towards friends of the same gender.

Question 8

When do children develop a sense of gender constancy?

Answer 8

At age 5.

Question 9

What are some features of gender development at age 3?

Answer 9

Children display knowledge of own gender.
Children display preference for toys and friends of their own sex
Children’s ability to assign sex to dolls is limited, and done mostly of the basis of hairstyle and clothing, ie long hair and dress = girl. Constancy is not understood, and the sex of the doll can change with different clothing.

Question 10

What are some biological explanations for gender differences?

Answer 10

. Male-like behavior correlated with prenatal exposure to testosterone
. Physical aggression in males appears to be biologically predisposed
. Gendered differences in brain anatomy
. Gendered differences in cognitive ability
. Spatial ability correlated with testosterone
. Evolutionary theories
. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Question 11

What are some animal studies which demonstrate the effect of prenatal testosterone on the male brain?

Answer 11

1. Gandelman, Vom Saal and Reinisch (1977), prenatal exposure to testosterone results in more ‘male-like’ behavior in females (mouse lined up in womb= next to two males mean more testrone)
2. Ward (1972), males deprived of prenatal testosterone by stressing mothers out behave more like females - ie exhibit homosexuality

Question 12

How do we know that physical aggression in males appears to be biologically predisposed?

Answer 12

Mothers report male babies as kicking/moving more in the womb than females, even when they don’t know the gender of the child.

Question 13

What are the differences in brain anatomy between males and females?

Answer 13

Broca’s and Wernicke’s region bigger in females

Male brain bigger overall

Question 14

What are the gendered differences in cognitive ability?

Answer 14

Women display better verbal ability, men display better spatial ability.

Question 15

Why do psychologists think that testosterone could be linked with spatial ability?

Answer 15

• High testosterone females display better spatial ability
• Low testosterone males display worse spatial ability
• Spatial ability fluctuates accordingly with testosterone levels during the menstrual cycle.

Question 16

What is the evolutionary argument surrounding differences in gender ability

Answer 16

Primitive men did things that required spatial awareness, ie hunting
Primitive women did things that required social awareness and manipulation of finer objects, ie cooking or sewing.

Question 17

What is Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia?

Answer 17

• A genetic condition which alters hormone production in the adrenal glands. Results in ambiguous genitalia in females (as too much testosterone) and an enlarged penis in males.
• The women tend towards male behaviours and the worse the condition the more they do so

Question 18

What are some environmental explanations for gender differences?

Answer 18

Children not only prefer, but are better at games targeted to their gender
Gender socialization begins with a child’s parents.

Question 19

Montemayor (1974) found that when introduced to a game as a boys game, boys not only _____ it but also performed ______, while the ____ was true for girls.

Answer 19

preferred
better
reverse

Question 20

How do we know that gender socialization begins with a child’s parents.

Answer 20

• Morrongiello and Dawber (1999) found that parents communicate with young children in a way that promotes increased risk taking by boys and greater perceived injury vulnerability among girls
• Smith and Lloyd (1978) found that mothers treated unfamiliar infants differently based on what gender they were presented as.
• Weisner and Silson-Mitchell (1990) found that parents who do not subscribe to gender differences in socialization of children have children whose attitudes and behavior reflect fewer gender stereotypes.