Paper 3 - Gender Flashcards

Question

Atypical Sex Chromosomes : Klinefelters physical & psychological characteristics

Answer 1

Physical Characteristics: Reduced body hair Develops small breasts at puberty Long & gangly limbs Psychological Characteristics: Poor language skills Poor memory Passive & shy Poor reading

Answer 2

XO Affects 1 in 5000 females. Missing one 2nd X chromosome. Only 45 chromosomes. Noticeable from birth.

Answer 3

Physical Characteristics: Broad shield chest Don’t develop ovaries - no menstrual cycle Webbed neck Physically immature Psychological Characteristics: Higher reading ability Low spatial, visual & maths skills Socially immature & have few friends

Answer 4

+ Comparing typical & atypical sex chromosome patterns develop our understanding of physical and psychological differences that biology has influenced on people (nature). This develops our understanding of the impact nature has on sex & gender in the differences in people.

Answer 5

+ This research has led to earlier identification which has led to treatment/methods to thrive. Those that were identified as having atypical sex chromosome patterns had significant benefits to those identified in adulthood. Improves quality of life as these conditions can affect people psychologically (I.e. school support/SEN)

Answer 6

- Social immaturity can be an environmental influence rather than biological. I.e. girls with Turners may become socially isolated during puberty. Can or assume the physical and psychological differences are just nature.

Answer 7

- All research on Klinefelters is based on 33% of males with Klinefelters - therefore is not representative of the conditions many makes experience, there may be less differences.

Answer 8

Interactionist Nature = All born with ability to create schemas. Nurture = Schemas develop due to experience.

Answer 9

Stage Theory - Gender understanding runs parallel to intellectual development (gets better with age). A gradual process.

Answer 10

Egocentric - An inability to see the world from another point of view (gender identity & stability)

Answer 11

Conservation - Something can stay the same (quantity) even though it’s appearance has changed (2 glasses, volume task).

Answer 12

Gender identity Gender stability Gender consistency

Answer 13

Gender identity 2 - 3 years Can label themself as boy/girl by 3 years. Relies on physical appearance. Doesn’t understand gender is permanent. Child is egocentric & doesn’t understand conservation

Answer 14

Gender Stability 3 - 4 years Child knows their own gender stays the same. Cannot apply this knowledge to other people or other situations. Child is egocentric & doesn’t understand conservation

Answer 15

Gender Consistency Around 6 years Complete understanding of gender for self & others across time, situations & despite superficial change. They NOW look for role models to confirm their knowledge. Not egocentric & understand conservation

Answer 16

+ Ken Doll Exp : A ’Ken Doll’ is shown to a 2,4,6 year old in phase A Ken is wearing shorts/shirt/short hair (boy boy boy). Phase B he wears skirt/shirt/short hair (girl girl boy). Phase C he wears skirt/shirt/long hair (girl girl boy). This backs up 2 - 4 year olds are egocentric & Kohlberg’s stage theory.

Answer 17

+ Slaby & Frey : Showed pictures to children of females and males doing the same task. Children in the gender consistency stage took longer looking at the pictures. Shows identification : backs up gender knowledge develops with age.

Answer 18

- The research method to obtain knowledge for this theory comes from interviews with children (2-6 year olds). Questions were adapted but children’s language is limited, they may not have understood the question or been able to verbalise it also they are suggestive. Reduces validity of the theory explaining gender development.

Answer 19

- SLT challenges this theory as Kohlberg’s theory cannot explain why boys are so reluctant to play with girls toys (from 4). The theory doesn’t explain gender differences. SLT explain this through identification & operant conditioning (boys punished for playing with Barbies).

Answer 20

Schemas are mental constructs that develop via experiences and are used by our cognitive system to organise our knowledge. Interactionist: Nature = born with the ability to create schemas Nurture = these schemas develop with experience Our understanding of gender runs parallel to intellectual development. We are ACTIVE in structuring our own learning. (Above backs up Kohlberg) Girls = organised, pink, long hair, smell nice, nurse, glitter, dolls, makeup Boys = cars, short hair, blue, disorganised, sport, dinosaurs (Above generalised representations of what we know about each gender)

Answer 21

Once a child has reached gender identity (2-3 years) they actively search their environment to develop their schema (goes against Kohlberg - he said at 6). By 6 years old, children have fixed & stereotypical views/attitudes about each gender. Anything that does not fix with their schema they disregard (girl playing with dinosaurs) By 8 years we have a good understanding of both genders (we have developed elaborate schemas). This leads to negative evaluations of your out group (teasing). -> Ingroup : same sex = reinforce our knowledge & boosts self-esteem -> Outgroup : opposite sex = don’t pay as much attention to them

Answer 22

+ Martin & Halverson : Children under 6 years old remembered more photographs of gender consistent behaviour than of gender inconsistent behaviour after 1 week. They would changed the behaviour of the inconsistent person to fit with their norm.

Answer 23

+ Boston & Levy : Compared girls and boys ability ability to assemble sequences of pictures in the correct order (4 pictures), these were pictures of typically female and typically male activities. (E.g. steps of making a cake) The children were better at sequencing their own sex typical activities than the opposite = ingroup

Answer 24

- This theory overlooks social factors & cannot explain why gender schemas develop & take the form they do. It is weak in explaining gender development

Answer 25

- Boys show more extreme gender type behaviour & greater resistance to opposite sex activities than girls. GST doesn’t explain this, SLT can through operant conditioning (EXPLAIN HOW)

Answer 26

* Compare to Kohlberg : Backs up that gender knowledge runs parallel to intellectual development. But GST states we look for role models and actively shape our schemas from 2-3 (once we know we are a boy/girl). Kohlberg said this happened once we achieve consistency.

Answer 27

Interactionist: Psychosexual stages are innate. Experience to how we overcome conflict. Shapes our adult personality. All happens in the unconscious

Answer 28

Key Psychosexual Stage: Phallic (where you obtain your gender). Before this, a child is essentially bisexual

Answer 29

ID - Immediate gratification -> “I want it now” Ego - Mediator (between ID & superego) Superego - Morality principle (you obtain after successful completion of the phallic stage - off same sex parent)

Answer 30

Boys : Oedipus Complex : Boys desire their mums, they see their dad as a competitor for their mums love. They notice not everyone has a penis. Boys develop castration anxiety (fear dad will chop their penis off). They decide to give up their love for their mother and actively identify with their father, in doing so they take in the male gender identity - the fathers superego (morals & values).

Answer 31

Girls : Electra Complex : Girls desire their dads, he has a penis & girls want one they have penis envy. Girls blames their mums for a lack of penis and power. They give up their love, for their dad & passively (no fear/no choice) take on the female gender identity & take one mums superego (morals/values). They channel their energy into ‘penis baby project’ having a baby boy (some power).

Answer 32

+ Little Hans: 5 year old that developed a fear of horses. Freud suggest Hans phobia was displacement - he had repressed his fear of his dad onto a horse he saw collapse in the street. This case study backs up the Oedipus conflict. However it is a case study so is open to interpretation and bias. Better explained by classical conditioning by behaviourist psychology.

Answer 33

- The theory suggests the more punitive dad is the stronger male identification. Blakemore found boys with more liberal fathers were more secure in their male identification. This suggests Freud's theory lacks validity in explaining gender identity.

Answer 34

- Freud's theory was created in a Patriarchal society (alpha bias). Karen Horney suggested in todays society men experience womb envy (women’s ability to create life). Freud theory is androcentric (Freud believed women needed men).

Answer 35

- Freud stated that once conflict is resolved at 5 years old no more gender development takes place. Kohlberg disagreed with this, stating gender development continues past 7 years old. Freud underestimates the complexities of gender.

Answer 36

Nurture : Learn all gender related behaviour from the environment and experience. Observation : Simply watching gender related behaviour. Imitation : Copying gender related behaviour (no special relationship) Reinforcement : Operant conditioning (learn through consequence)

Answer 37

Direct : Positive reinforcement (YOU get praised for gender behaviour) Punishment (YOU get punished for gender behaviour) Indirect (vicarious) : Positive reinforcement (you watch SOMEONE ELSE be rewarded, you repeat as you want the reward) Punishment (You watch SOMEONE ELSE be punished, you don’t repeat as you don’t want to be punished)

Answer 38

Identification : A special relationship between yourself and the role model, you see yourself as similar. Modelling : You imitate (copy) gender related behaviour of someone you look up to. They have status/are desirable. Mediational Processes : Attention (watch gender related behaviour) Retention (you remember and analyse the skill) Motivation (praise/punishment) Reproduction (you do the action)

Answer 39

+ Bandura 1 : Children watch a same sex adult model hit a bobo doll. Children then allowed to play in the playroom. Children imitated the adults. (Demonstrates no imitate gender related behaviour from same sex role models - observation & imitation).

Answer 40

+ Bandura 2 : Same as above BUT with a consequence. (Condition 1 = adult praised - children copied) (Condition 2 = adult punished - children did not copy) (Condition 3 = no consequence - control). Demonstrates we imitate if positively reinforced (backs up the key concept operant conditioning).

Answer 41

+ Cultural differences : This theory explains same gender differences around the world, through different media & learning experiences. Biological approach cannot explain this.

Answer 42

- Bruce/Brenda : This theory ignores any biological influence on gender related behaviour such as testosterone leads to aggression. HOWEVER Bruce/Brenda case demonstrates nature overrides nurture.

Answer 43

Mead : Observed gender roles in 3 tribes (overt & non ppt) Apresh: Men and women are gentle and cooperative Mundugmar: Men and women violent & aggressive Tchambuli: Women dominant, providers (they fished) and organised tribe life These suggest gender behaviour is nurture (different)

Answer 44

Buss : Looked at mate preference over 37 countries. Males look for youth and attractiveness. Females look for wealth and resources. Gender behaviour is nature

Answer 45

Munroe : Most countries follow the ‘typical’ divisions of labour. Male = breadwinner, Female = carer, nurturer. Gender behaviour is nature. Links to attachment (A03) females had children, had to breastfeed and bond.

Answer 46

- Ethnocentric : Mead imposed her western views of gender on these cultures, she didn’t understand (non ppt observation). Therefore reduces validity of determining if gender behaviour is universal. A way around this is use an indigenous psychologist.

Answer 47

- Impose Ethic : She created a tool suitable to measure gender in one culture (western) and expected it to work in other cultures. Should have worked with an indigenous psychologist.

Answer 48

Cannot disentangle nature from nurture. Cross cultural research is useful at looking into this, but we don’t know where nature stops and nurture begins (due to media). An interactionist view would be better.

Answer 49

Link to social learning theory We need same sex role models in the media to shape our behaviour. Needed for imitation, identification & reinforcement to ensure appropriate gender related behaviour-> acceptance.

Answer 50

Bandura : The media provides clear stereotypes to follow. Men are independent, ambitious & advice givers. Women are dependent, unambitious & advice sneakers.

Answer 51

Furham : In the media are autonomous roles = professionals, females are in housewife/ family roles.

Answer 52

McGhee : Found a correlation (shows relationship not cause and effect) between high media exposure & high sex role stereotypical behaviour.

Answer 53

Wober : The media sex roles influenced what children wanted to do when they grew up. Men = occupational roles, Women = service/caring roles (nurse, nursery nurse)

Answer 54

+ Bandura experiment 1 : Children watch same sex role models hit the bobo doll and therefore copy and imitate this. This suggests that we observe and imitate same sex role models which can be presented to us in the media.

Answer 55

- Media focuses on western families = cultural bias, therefore can only be used to explain western societies (not generalisable).

Answer 56

- No media challenging male stereotypes -> this might explain males fixed view of gender roles (challenges female roles like the Disney princess but no program of boys staying at home and looking after babies for example).

Answer 57

- No control group, there are very few people that have not had media exposure therefore nothing to compare to as a baseline. This limits validity of research when establishing norms.

Answer 58

Experience will affect ability to function in everyday life. Feel a strong sense of discomfort with their own biological sex. No biological disorder should occur at the same time. Must experience ongoing (for 6 months) identification with the opposite sex.

Answer 59

■ This theory suggests that dysphoria is caused by specific brain structures that are incompatible with a person’s biological sex. ■ Dimorphic/BSTc (area that take a different form in males and females) brain structures cause GID. ■ Zhou (1995) studied the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (Dismorphic/BSTc) which is assumed to be fully developed at age 5, found this is 40% larger in males than females ■ Post mortems showed that in 6 transgender, the BSTc similar size to females brain.

Answer 60

■ Heylans (12) 39% of MZ twins concordant for GID compared to NO DZ twins where one of each pair was diagnosed with GID = Genetic factors MUST be involved. ■ Deterministic as causing the mismatch that people feel which is caused by a difference in brain structure or genetics. Therefore NO free will

Answer 61

■ There was either over or under-exposure to androgens in the womb (over-exposure for females, underexposure for males) ■ As a consequence it leads to masculinisation or feminisation

Answer 62

■ Mother-son relationship leads to greater female identification in boys. ■ Extreme separation anxiety occurs before gender identity established. ■ Fantasies of a symbolic fusion with mother to reduce anxiety. ■ Become the mother so adopts a female gender identity ■ Stoller (73) Conducted clinical interviews and observed those with Gender Dysphoria, they had overly close mother son relationships. Suggests this leads to over identification with females, leading to a confused gender identity.

Answer 63

Liben and Bigler (2002) proposed an extension of the gender schema theory ■ Schemas are formed through childhood experiences (around 2-3). ■ This theory suggests two pathways of gender development – the dual pathway theory 1. The first pathway acknowledges the development of gender schema which then direct gender-appropriate attitudes and behaviour as part of ‘normal’ development 2. The second pathway describes how the child's personal interests become more dominant and this influences the gender schema (boy likes playing with dolls). – In most people this may lead to androgynous behaviour and a more flexible attitude to gender. – In a small minority of others, it may lead to the eventual formation of an opposite gender identity.

Answer 64

- Hulshoff (06) found that transgender hormone therapy affect the size of the BTSc which means that differences in transgender brains may be due to the therapy rather than a cause of GID.

Answer 65

- Low concordance rates for GID (also hard to disentangle the environment from biological in twin studies) - Sample sizes are small – generalisability problems – Therefore we rely on twin studies for the genetic support however these are WEAK.

Answer 66

Reductionist as reduces GID (gender identity disorder?) down to genetic, neuro-anatomical and hormonal level. A complete understanding requires nurture explanations.

Answer 67

+ Zucker (96) Studied boys that were concerned about their gender identity. Out of the boys that were diagnosed with GID 64% were also diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. Only 38% of the subclinical group were diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. Suggests a disordered attachment to mothers is a factor in development of GID.

Answer 68

- Rekers (86) gender disturbance is likely to be associated with the absence of the father than fear of separation from the mother. HOWEVER it is hard to test – No empirical research, unconscious cannot be proven therefore the concept is not testable

Answer 69

- Liben and Biglers (02) theory describes GID, it does NOT explain how someone becomes interested in activities that are not consistent with their own sex. Furthermore it does NOT how these activities lead to the development of non-sex typed schemas. – Other theories (BST) are more useful as they have explanatory power.

Answer 70

- Overall there are problems of research, it is still classed as social sensitivity, implications could be detrimental to those it affects. (Can be used for all)