Theories

Question 1

Define psychoanalytic theory

Answer 1

its basic assumption is that part of the human psyche is unconscious.

Question 2

According to Freud, what 2 instincts dominate humans?

Answer 2

Thanatos and Libido

Question 3

what are the stages of psychosexual development in boys and girls

Answer 3

1- oral 2- anal 3- phallic (electra and oedipus)

Question 4

what is the oedipal complex?

Answer 4

Named for the Greek myth of Oedipus
Boy develops sexual desire for his mother, but sees that father, who is his rival, is so powerful that he might castrate his own son (boy feels castration anxiety) in retaliation
By repressing his sexual desire for mother, the boy identifies with his father, and therefore introjects the values and ethics of society (as represented by father), developing a conscience or superego

Question 5

What is electra complex

Answer 5

Holding her mother responsible for her castration, a girl develops an intense sexual attraction for and desire to be impregnated by her father
Desire to be impregnated by father develops into maternal urges

Question 6

What 3 traits did freud give to women?

Answer 6

1- passivity
2- masochism
3- narcissim

Question 7

critisize Freud’s theory

Answer 7

Concepts cannot be evaluated scientifically to determine accuracy (how do we measure the unconscious?)

Freud derived his ideas from work with patients who sought therapy; the theory describes disturbed, not normal, behavior

Freud overemphasized biological determinants of human behavior in seeing origins of gender differences as rooted in anatomical differences

Freud’s views are phallocentric (male centered, penis centered), assuming that the vagina and clitoris are inferior to the penis

Question 8

What did karen horney say?

Answer 8

Freudian theory articulates boys’ childish views of girls
Importance of penis envy was overstated, that the critical factor was actually womb envy, male’s envy of woman’s uterus and reproductive capacity
Male achievement represents overcompensation for feelings of anatomical inferiority
Emphasized cultural and social influences and human growth

Question 9

what is natural selection

Answer 9

fittest animals survive, reproduce, and pass their genes on to the next generation, whereas animals that are less fit do not reproduce and therefore do not pass on their genes

Question 10

Why do women do the childcare?

Answer 10

Greater parental investment

Maternity is always certain, paternity is not

Question 11

Sexual selection:

Answer 11

process by which members of one gender (usually males) compete with each other for mating privileges with members of the other gender (usually females), and members of the other gender (females) choose to mate only with certain preferred members of the first gender (males)

Question 12

critisize sociobio theory

Answer 12

Sociobiologists view data from an androcentric perspective, only discussing data that support their androcentric theories

Biology is often a convenient rationalization for perpetuating the status quo

Sociobiology rests on an outmoded version of evolutionary theory that modern biologists consider naïve

Question 13

What are the mechanism of social learning theory

Answer 13

1- Reinforcement
2- imitating
3- observational learning

Question 14

what is reinforcement

Answer 14

: something that occurs after a behavior and makes the behavior more likely to occur in the future

Question 15

what is imitation

Answer 15

when people do what they see others doing; we imitate same-gender adults more than other-gender adults

Question 16

what is observational learning

Answer 16

: when a person observes someone doing something, and then does it at a later time;

Question 17

cognitive processes?

Answer 17

Attention: process focuses on relevant behaviors; e.g., pay more attention to same-gender models

Self-regulation: monitor own behavior and regulate it according to gender norms

Self-efficacy: belief in ability to accomplish a particular task, plays a role in maintaining gender-typed behaviors

Question 18

Gender identity

Answer 18

individual’s knowledge that she or he is a female or male; develops ~18-24 mons

Question 19

Gender constancy

Answer 19

child’s understanding that gender is a permanent, unchanging characteristic of the self; develops ~5-7 yrs.; crucial for adoption of gender roles
Gender-role learning as one aspect of cognitive development

Question 20

Stages of moral develpment

Answer 20

1- preconventional
2- conventional
3- post conventional

Question 21

what’s gender schema

Answer 21

Gender schemas refer to mental structures that organize incoming information according to gender categories and in turn lead people to perceive the world in terms of gender.