Lecture 7 Flashcards
who performs better on a verbal task men or women?
female
who performs better on a spatial task, men or women?
men
which tasks favor men?
- visualisation- how an object will look when folded
- throwing accuracy
- spatial orientation
- visual interference
- mathematical reasoning
which tasks favour women
- peceptual speed- rapid matching of items
- object location memory
- word fluency
- fine motor coordination
- numerical calculation
within a meta analysis of men and women of all ages who scores higher on spatial abilities and what is the effect size of this?
men- small to medium effect
within a meta analysis of men and women of all ages who scores higher on mental rotation and what is the effect size of this?
men- medium to large effect size
within a meta analysis of men and women of all ages who scores higher on verbal abilities and what is the effect size of this?
women- so small that it can be considered not to exist
what is the subgroups of spatial ability and who performs better in these?
men
spatial visualisation, visual interference and mental rotation
what are the subgroups of verbal ability and which gender scores better in these?
women
comprhension, language and vocab
what are the biological variables for explainations of sex differences in intelligence?
- brain size
- maturity rates
- evolutionary perspectives (for spatial ability)
- hormones
explain how brain size effects general intelligence
- correlation between brain size and IQ=0.33
- correlation is even larger for females
- men have a 10% larger brain than women
explain how maturity rates effect general intelligence
Boys and girls mature physically and mentally at different rates
Boys and girls mature at the same rate up to the age of 7 years
Between age 8 – 15 years, girls mature faster (→ might explain why no differences among adolescents exist)
At the age of 16 onwards into adulthood, boys start to develop larger average brain size (→ sex differences in general intelligence start to develop)
what does Lynn’s 2004 data show on sex differences but how is this flawed
far fewer sex differences in adolescents and more in adults.
but…the sizes are v small to non-existent, suggesting only little support to her hypothesis.
Explain evolutionary perspective in terms of sex differences in spatial ability
- FORAGING- men took lead in foraging- need for spatial skills (finding way around, be able to hunt and intercept animals and hit targets)
- RANGE SIZE- females monogamous males are polygamous. to pursue and maintain multiple relationships men need to cover a wide area of land
- WARFARE- travel long distances to ambush other men- develop spatial awareness to fight well in new environments
what are ‘male’ hormones called?
androgens
what are ‘female’ hormones called?
estrogens
what is the most prominent androgen and what are female levels of this like?
testosterone (females produce about 10% of males)
what is the most prominent oestrogen?
oestradiol
what is the most prominent gestagen?
progesterone
how do steroids act differently from other hormones and what does this result in?
they can pass the lipid bilayer of a cell membrane- have direct access to the nucleus and gene expression.
how does testosterone cause sex differences in spatial ability?
- has organizing effects on the brain during prenatal development and has activation effects during life
- Hooven- higher levels of testosterone in males are significantly related to faster responses and lower error rates on a mental rotation task.
how can steroid hormones influence neurons?
-can quickly act (within seconds or less) to alter membrane excitability, sensitivity to neurotransmitters, or neurotransmitter release
→ by directing binding to and modulating the functions of, various enzymes, channels, and transmitter-receptors
2) Can diffuse across the outer membrane and bind to specific types of steroid receptors in the nucleus → promotes/ inhibits transcription of specific genes in the nucleus (takes mins to hours)
what steroid hormone influences the GABA receptor and what does this potentiate
progesterone
potentiates the amount of chloride activated by GABA
what are the effects of progesterone similar to?
the sedative and anticonvulsant of the benzodiazepine class of drugs.
what happens to the effects of steroid hormones through life?
can exert different effects during life
what are organizational effects
done in womb e.g. tissue development in irreversible ways