Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology year 2 > gender > Flashcards

gender Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Psychology flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

what is your sex?

A

whether you are biologically male or female

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what is your gender?

A

the way you act and identify yourself

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

what is ‘androgynous’?

A

having a balanced combination of masculine and feminine characteristics

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what are sex-roles?

A

the particular behaviours expected of men and women

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what are sex-role stereotypes?

A

ideas about sex-roles that are widely held but tend to be narrow, inflexible, and over generalised

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what was bem’s self-report questionnaire known as?

A

the bem sex role inventory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

how was the bem sex role inventory developed?

A

he asked 50 male and 50 female students to rate personality traits as being either masculine and feminine. the most highly rated masculine, feminine and neutral words were used to form a questionnaire

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what is the bem sex role inventory used for?

A

to measure the mix of stereotypically masculine and feminine traits present in an individual

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

how does the BSRI work?

A

people rate themselves for the traits on a scale of 1 to 7. those who score highly for both masculine and feminine traits are said to be psychologically androgynous

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

why does bem suggest that androgyny is advantageous?

A

because people have the traits needed to cope with a range of situations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

give a study that suggests environmental factors cause psychological androgyny

A

weisner and wilson-mitchell compared children raised in families that put emphasis on traditional gender roles with children raised in families that downplayed them. androgyny was higher in the children encouraged to ignore gender roles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

what are the advantages of the bsri?

A
  • it has a high test-retest reliability as the RPs give same answers each time
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

what are the disadvantages of the bsri?

A
  • it is a reductionist theory, as it reduces femininity and masculinity to a single score
  • it is also based on outdated views
  • its validity depends on how accurately RPs rate themselves
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

when does gender identity disorder occur?

A

when someone feels their biological sex doesn’t match their psychological gender and it causes them distress as well as wanting to change their sex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what is the biological explanation of gender identity disorder?

A

the brain functioning of the individuals is more typical of the other sex. this may happen if an individual has unusual hormone levels during brain development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what are the strengths of the biological explanation of GID?

A
  • kruijver et al found the number of neurones in a region of the brain (BSTc) in MtF transgender people was siilar to the number in biological women
  • hare et al found that MtF transgender people were more likely than cis men to have a particular version of an androgen receptor gene
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

what are the weaknesses of the biological explanation of GID?

A
  • chung et al found sex differences in the BSTc didn’t appear until adulthood, so may be a result of gender developing not the cause
  • most girls with CAH who produce more testosterone don’t develop GID
  • other factors may have an effect
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

how has social learning theory been used to explain GID?

A

if a child imitates a role model of the other sex, or behaviour associated with the opposite sex is reinforced, they may develop a different gender to their sex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

what did rekers and lovaas argue?

A

GID could be resolved by reinforcing gender appropriate behaviours

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

why don’t many psychologists agree with rekers and lovaas?

A

they argue it stigmatises people with an atypical gender identity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

what did rekers link his suggestion about GID to?

A

the idea that homosexuality was a disorder that could be ‘cured’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

what does biological psychology argue about gender differences?

A

that behavioural differences an be explained by differences in brain development and activity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

what pair of chromosomes do females have?

A

XX

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

what pair of chromosomes do males have?

A

XY

25
Q

what chromosome leads to male development and why?

A

Y, because it causes the development of testes causing testosterone to be produced

26
Q

how can testosterone be used to explain gender?

A

it has organising effects on the brain causing ‘male’ traits by shaping the hypothalamus. it affects brain development (structural differences between males and females)

27
Q

what did hyde find about psychological differences between genders?

A

reviewed 46 meta-analyses and found that there was a very small or no difference

28
Q

what is klinefelter’s syndrome?

A

when males are born with XXY sex chromosomes

29
Q

what are the symptoms of men with klinefelter’s?

A

they are sterile and tend to be less muscular and have less facial and body hair, smaller genitals. they can have problems using language to express themselves and have trouble with social interaction

30
Q

what is turner’s syndrome?

A

when females are born with only one complete X chromosome

31
Q

what are the symptoms of turner’s syndrome?

A

they tend to be shorter than average, sterile, webbed neck, and do worse at maths and have poor spatial ability

32
Q

what is CAH?

A

when someone produces more testosterone than is usual

33
Q

what does CAH cause in later life?

A

early sexual development in males

girls tend to be more masculinised physically (fast growth and early puberty) and socially

34
Q

why does CAH happen in girls and what does it cause?

A

when they are exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb which causes physical abnormalities e.g. ambiguous genitalia

35
Q

what does CAH support?

A

the idea that the effect of testosterone on the brain is responsible for gender differences

36
Q

how has the role of oestrogen been studied? (PMT)

A

oestrogen can cause PMT which can lead women feeling emotional, irritable and aggressive. easteal believed it could be the reason behind crime in some females

37
Q

what did rimmele et al find?

A

that increased oxytocin levels improves male participant’s ability to recognise if they’d seen a face before, but it didn’t help them recognise non-social objects

38
Q

how has oxytocin been used to suggest gender differences?

A

it facilitates prosocial behaviours e.g. trust and attachment. it is increased by oestrogen and suppressed by testosterone

39
Q

evaluate the biological approach to gender

A

+ female monkeys exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb behave more like male monkeys

  • it’s unclear whether results from monkeys can be applied to humans

+ research on MtF transgender people suggests gender identity is influenced by the brain. post mortems showed an area close to the hypothalamus called the BST was smaller and more ‘female’

  • study only done on 6 people so can’t be generalised, and hormone treatment would affect brain structure

+ the fact men with klinefelter’s are more likely to have ambiguous gender may suggest biology plays a part in gender

  • most klinefelter’s men identify completely as males
  • only focuses on ‘nature’ and not nurture
40
Q

what does cognitive development theory suggest and who first proposed it?

A

piaget - that children’s thoughts and views change as they develop

41
Q

what are kohlberg’s three stages of gender development?

A

gender identity - child becomes aware they’re male or female and classifies others. judge gender on superficial things and may think gender can change (2 - 3 years old)

gender stability - child realises gender will remain fixed but may believe it changes in different situations (4 - 6 years old)

gender constancy - child becomes aware that gender remains fixed in different situations. they internalise their gender and look to role models of their gender (age 7)

42
Q

what are the strengths of kohlberg’s theory?

A
  • thompson found that 3 year olds were more likely than 2 year olds to know their gender
  • slaby and frey used interviews to determine whether ages fit with the stages. it was mostly consistent
  • munroe et al found the stages are the same in different cultures so universally generalisable
43
Q

what are the weaknesses of kohlberg’s theory?

A
  • ignores effects of social influences and conditioning
  • describes what happens, but not why
  • slaby and frey found some children developed gender constancy before age 6
  • slaby and frey found that boys were more likely to pay more attention to people of their own gender than girls
44
Q

what theory did martin and halverson come up with?

A

gender schema theory

45
Q

what does the gender schema theory suggest?

A

that by the age of 3, children have developed a basic gender identity. they also have a gender schema which contains the child’s ideas about gender appropriate behaviour. through observation, children continue to learn gender appropriate behaviours and add them to their schema

46
Q

what is a child’s gender schema based on?

A

the concept of an in-group and an out-group

47
Q

what is the difference between in-groups and out-groups?

A

activities, objects and behaviours associated with their own sex are seen as in-group. those associated with the opposite sex are out-group. children will show a bias to in-group behaviours

48
Q

how can having a gender schema help children manage all the info they’re exposed to?

A

they can focus on processing info related to their in-group and filter out info related to their out-group

49
Q

what are the disadvantages of having a gender schema?

A

it can discourage children form showing interest in things related to their out-group which can limit opportunities and lead to discrimination

50
Q

what is the evidence for gender schema theory?

A
  • bradbard et al found that children were more likely to play with unfamiliar toys if they were described as being for their own gender
  • martin and halverson found children are more likely to take in info if it fits with their gender schema. they were more likely to correctly remember drawings where the person’s gender matched the stereotype for the activity
51
Q

what is the evidence against gender schema theory?

A
  • campbell et al found a child’s awareness of their own gender had no effect on how much they engaged in gender stereotypical behaviour
  • alexander et al showed a doll and a truck to infants aged 3 to 8 months old. boys looked at the truck more than girls, and girls looked more at the doll than boys. (before age martin and halverson proposed)
52
Q

what is the psychodynamic explanation of gender?

A

that children develop their gender between 3 and 5, during the phallic stage of development when the child becomes aware of the difference between male and female genitalia and initially think that females have been castrated which leads to unconscious desires and anxiety which the children resolve by identifying with they same sex parent

53
Q

what is the oedipus complex?

A

boys begin to romantically desire their mother, they begin to feel aggressive and jealous towards their father because he’s getting in the way of them fulfilling this desire. they begin to feel castration anxiety. they start to identify with their father and then internalise him as their superego so they develop a male identity. they then deal with their desire for their mother by displacing it onto other women

54
Q

what is the electra complex?

A

girls experience penis envy and start to desire their father because he has one. they feel hostile towards their mother because they blame her for their castration but fear losing their mother’s love. they repress the feelings towards their father and identify with their mother and internalise her as their superego developing a female gender identity and substitute their desire for a penis for a baby

55
Q

describe freud’s case study of little hans

A

little hans was afraid of horses. his father reported conversations he had with him. hans developed an interest in his own penis when he was 3 and asked his mother if she had one. he also dreamt that he was going to marry his mother. his mother threatened to cut off his penis when she caught him touching it. freud thought hans had displaced fear of his father onto horses

56
Q

why has freud’s psychoanalytic theory of gender development been criticised?

A
  • based on freud’s subjective interpretation of behaviour (can’t be scientifically tested)
  • his cased studies involved people who had psychological problems
  • idea of penis envy doesn’t work in today’s society
  • the theory implies children need to be brought up by mother and father in a heterosexual relationship to develop a ‘normal’ gender identity
57
Q

what are the two aspects of social learning theory used to explain gender development?

A
  • children identify with their own gender
  • learning through reinforcement for gender appropriate behaviour
58
Q

give some evidence for social learning theory as an explanation of gender development (MEDIA)

A
  • media: television contains gender stereotypes so children will learn gender roles through the media
  • notel: isolated canadian town with no tv which researchers compared to another town ‘multitel’. notel children had fewer gender stereotypes and developed more once notel was given tv
59
Q

give some evidence for social learning theory as an explanation of gender development (CULTURE)

A

margaret mead: studied different tribes in new guinea and found they had different gender roles from people in the west:
- tchambuli: opposite, females were masculine
- mundugumor: males and females were both masculine
- arapesh: both males and females are feminine

however this is an old study and a lot of research suggest there are similarities between cultures

Psychology year 2 (3 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions