Individual differences

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

Individual differences must be differentiated from changes that originate from internal processes, such as maturation or illness

Question 2

Cause of difference: why does it matter?\

What is the 2 theory?

Answer 2

Biological determinist (essentialism) and social determinist

Question 3

What is Biological determinist (essentialism)

Answer 3

Biological:
- males and femalres charactirizes are diffrrent- due to gentics and biology
these are univrsal and cross cultural

biologically determined differences which are:
¡ Stable?
§ Across time and context
¡ Universal?
§ Occurring cross culturally

Question 4

What is social determinist ?

Answer 4

differneces are learned and shaped
Differences that are learned or shaped by social and environmental influences:-
Flexible?- Open to change
- Culturally / context specific?

Question 5

Nature via Nurture….

Answer 5

Learning occurs as an interaction with the environment and is initiated to adapt personal needs to the external world”

Individual differences in learning potential are not “nature versus nurture” but
“Nature via nurture….”.

e-g: tall- the environmet needs to support these is not only the genetics- learning occurs with the interaction of the environemt

Question 6

What are the 3 areas of different found in the sex diferences?

Answer 6

(verbal, spatial and maths ability

Question 7

Verbal ability differences?

Answer 7

¡ Females seen as being better than males at verbal reasoning
¡ Lateralisation – the left hemisphere specialises in language skills, the right in spatial skills
§ When solving verbal problems men used the left hemisphere…
§ whilst women used both (Shawitz et al, 1995)

parenrts and teachers speak different depending on the sex

Question 8

Visual Spatial differneces?

Answer 8

¡ Males: better map reading and logic § Spatial visualisation
¡ Females: better memory for object positions § Perceptual speed
§ Object placement

-this can be learn through toys, femlaes are more placement than mens

this differences are social form

Question 9

Maths ability ?

Answer 9

¡ Equal ability at primary level
¡ Males perform better in secondary school
and adulthood
¡ Hyde (1981, 1990) confirmed this difference BUT reported that it was smaller than often cited in many text books!

Question 10

Self fulfilling prophesy?

Answer 10

Schober and Finsterwald (2016)
¡ Trainee teachers attributions of maths success or failure:
§ Females’ success due to hard work whereas males’ success due to talent.
§ Males failure due to laziness, females due to lack of ability
¡ Implications for feedback and motivation.

• males are assumed to be good at maths and can have an impact on the feedback
• teachers perceveid boys to be better than girls

Question 11

Sex differences in behaviour?

Answer 11

men are more agressive in a work envrionmet

Myth? Men are more aggressive than women throughout their lives

females are reinforce for good behaviour while males punished for good behaviours- sex type behaviour are being reinforced

Women are more emotional than men, cry more easily, and show their feelings

Question 12

Social Construction theory ?

Answer 12

We cannot know whether males’ and females’ characteristics are genuinely different because we can never be totally objective.
§ Our whole culture revolves around categories such as male/female, masculine/feminine, and we see the world through these distorting ‘gender lenses’

• the social constuction- there is no obejctive reality

Question 13

What is the social Construction?

Answer 13

The view that there is no single, fixed, objective reality, but different versions used by different people of different backgrounds at different historical times.
¡ i.e. reality is a subjective human concept invented or constructed for various purposes.
¡ i.e. what we think of as reality is simply a working model of the world and everything in it.

Question 14

Key references of the social constructionism :

Answer 14

Social phenomena are created and maintained by social practices. This occurs through the processes of
§ Externalisation § Objectification § Internalisation

Question 15

Example of the key refererences of social constructionism

Answer 15

selfie concept 20 years ago didnt exist but know wxist so the idea became externalisation , when people start talking became a objectification, a objext, and they intenalize and somethin they know

Question 16

Social constructionism in terms of gender?

Answer 16

Social constructionism is linguistically driven and sees gender as “a system of meaning that organises interactions and governs access to power and resources”

• pink or blue when having a bab- the are put in categories even before being in the world

Question 17

Gender is constructed at the:?

Answer 17

Individual level
¡ Interactional level
¡ Institutional level
¡ Media / cultural level

Question 18

What is the Individual level?

Answer 18

the identity or the way that we see ourselves.

we gender ourselves to express ourserlves

is how we represent our gender to others

female: love, attention, sweetheart- this can different on how the individuals know it eachother, the age anf the context

sexuallity are different between sex

female labido, sex drive- the language to descrive sexuality more agressive to women than men

• people gender each other to perceive and understand and evaltuate each other

Question 19

What is Institutional level?

Answer 19

nstituiton level:

• th education the justice and medico system
• law, parents

DSM book- women are more depender and men are agressive and antisocial

work stress- men ilnesss. risk to suicide

Question 20

What is social/media level?

Answer 20

media level:

conflict in newspapers, different focus depending of the sex
females are apeeareance , sexuality, objects of desire

males- money ,sucesss, achievement - they are being observed

equality on tv is different- powerull women are seen as bad, machavelic

love island- advert with a men stand out more.