Transcript Document

Psychology 320:
Psychology of Gender
and Sex Differences
Lecture 16
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Exam Preparation Tips
• The upcoming midterm exam will include questions
unique to the textbook content (~25%), questions unique
to the lecture content (~40%), and questions that reflect
overlap between the two sources of information. You are
encouraged to study both sources of information
thoroughly.
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• With respect to the textbook content:
 Construct learning objectives for each section of the
textbook (what am I suppose to take away from this
section?).
 Create questions with the titles and subtitles of
sections. Use the content of each section to answer
the questions that you have generated.
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 Identify the primary points of each section with key
words or phrases and use these to test yourself.
 Familiarize yourself with all terms that are bolded or
italicized.
 Study all figures and tables.
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• With respect to the lecture content:
 Use the learning objectives to guide your studying.
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• You need not memorize the names of researchers
who conducted idiosyncratic studies or the dates of
those studies. However, you should familiarize
yourself with the names of all major theorists (e.g., Bem).
• The goal of the exam is to assess your mastery of the
course content and “jargon” of gender psychology.
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• In order to demonstrate your mastery of the course
content on the extended response questions, you
should provide thorough and detailed responses to the
questions asked. The instructions for the extended
response section will read:
“Please respond to each of the questions below. Note
that point form answers are acceptable. Your
responses should be thorough and detailed. If
necessary, you may write on the back side of the page.
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• The exam questions will assess your ability to recall,
synthesize, and apply course content. Examples:
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Recall:
Which of the following is not among the attributes
associated with the Cult of True Womanhood?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Purity.
Submissiveness.
Domesticity.
Piety.
Emotionality.
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Synthesize:
Compare and contrast traditional sexism, modern
sexism, hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism.
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Apply:
Research has identified a sex difference in aggression;
the mean score for males is higher than the mean
score for females. Considering sex differences in
reproductive capacity and minimal parental investment,
generate an evolutionary explanation to account for this
documented sex difference in aggression. That is,
generate a theory to explain this finding that is based
on sex differences in reproductive capacity and minimal
parental investment.
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• In order to correctly respond to questions that require
synthesis and application, recall of information is
necessary. The correlation between recall questions
and synthesis/application questions typically
exceeds .70.
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Announcement
I will hold additional office hours in preparation for the
midterm exam:
Thursday, October 18: 2:30-3:30PM
Monday, October 22: 11:30AM-1:30PM
Tuesday, October 23: 1:30-3:30PM
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Biological Theories of Sex Differences
1. What biological theories have been proposed to
explain sex differences? (continued)
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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. describe the process of prenatal sex differentiation.
2. review evidence that supports genetic contributions
to sex differences in psychological characteristics.
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What biological theories have been proposed to explain
sex differences? (continued)
2. Genetic Theories (continued)
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 The Y chromosome carries the SRY gene that acts as
a “switch” for maleness, producing a male offspring.
 During the 7th week of gestation, the SRY gene
directs the production of testis-determining factor
(TDF), which triggers the development of testes (vs.
ovaries).
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 Androgenic hormones from the testes (i.e., müllerian
inhibiting factor, testosterone) result in further
development of the male internal reproductive system.
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NO ANDROGENIC
HORMONES
ANDROGENIC
HORMONES
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 Research suggests that, in addition to sex
differentiation, genes influence the psychological and
behavioural characteristics of the sexes.
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 Example 1: Twin Studies
 Lippa and Hershberger (1999)
• Analyzed data collected from 839 same-sex pairs of
twins.
• Among the measures that participants completed were:
the Adjective Checklist, occupational interests, and
frequency of everyday activities.
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• Heritability statistics obtained:
Masculine instrumentality = .36
Feminine expressiveness = .38
GD = .53
• These findings replicate the results of several other
studies.
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Biological Theories of Sex Differences
1. What biological theories have been proposed to
explain sex differences? (continued)
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