PSY 213 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Biosocial Theory, Corpus Callosum, Sex Steroid
Chapter 15 – Gender Devel’ PSY 213
Thoeretical approaches to gender devel’
Milestones in gender devel’
Comparing boys + girls
Themes
- Nature + nurture
- The active child
- Sociocultural context
- Individual differences
Perspectives: Developmental Psychology
Sex
- Biological origins for differences be/n males + females
Gender
- Social categorization as either male or female
Gender-typed
- B’s traditionally associated w/a particular gender
Cross-gender-typed
- B’s traditionally associated w/other gender
Gender typing
- Process of gender socialization + devel’
Theoretical Approaches to Gender Devel’
Biological Influences Cognitive Motivational
Influences
Cultural Influences
Evolutionary psychology
theory
Biosocial theory
Neuroscience
Cognitive devel’ theory
Gender schema theory
Social ID theory
Social cognitive theory
Bioecological model
Social role theory
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Chapter 15 – Gender Devel’ PSY 213
Biological Influences
Evolutionary
psychology theory
B’s occur be/c they helped human survive during the course of evolution
Sex-linked dispositions evolved to increase the chances that women + men would
successfully mate + protect their offspring (i.e. play, but its circular argument)
Biosocial theory Forces on the evolution of physical differences + proposes that differences have b’ + social
consequences
Males are larger, stronger, + faster so roles devel’ that they excel at
Childbearing + nursing females have roles w/compassion + nurturance
Neuroscience Hormones + brain functioning – focus on testing the effect of hormones + brain functioning
on gender devel’
Androgens – a class of steroid hormones that incl testosterone
Organizing influences – potential result of certain sex-linked hormones affecting brain
differentiation + organization during prenatal devel’ or at puberty
Activating influences – potential result of certain fluctuations in sex-linked hormone levels
affecting the contemporaneous activation of the nervous system + corresponding b’
responses
Brain structure + functioning – focuses on small differences in the physical structure of the
brain
- Corpus callosum (connection be/n brains 2 hemispheres), larger _ more dense
w/nerve bundles in women than in men
- Activation levels during spatial + reasoning tasks (i.e. unilateral vs bilateral
activation for males vs females)
- Limbic system larger in women
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Chapter 15 – Gender Devel’ PSY 213
Cognitive Motivational Influences
Cognitive devel’ theory Focuses on way that children learn gender typed attitudes + b’s through observation,
inference + practice
- Self-socialization – active process during devel’ whereby childrens cognitions
lead them to perceive the world + to act in accordance w/their expectations +
beliefs
- Cognitive devel’ theory – devel’ by Kohlberg, who proposed that children’s
understanding of gender involves a 3 stage process
Gender ID (30mo) Gender stability (3-4yrs) Gender constancy (6yrs)
Awareness of oneself as a
boy or girl
Awareness that gender
remains the same over
time
Realization that gender is
invariant despite
superficial changes in a
person’s appearance or b’
Gender schema theory Gender schemas – organized mental representations (concepts, beliefs, memories)
about gender, inlc gender stereotypes
Gender schema filter – initial evaluation of info as relevant for ones own gender
Interest filter – initial evaluation of info as being personally interesting
Ingroup/outgroup gender schemas – form an own gender schema consisting of
detailed knowledge about how to do things that are consistent w/own gender (i.e.
increased memory for gender consistent info)
Social ID theory Addresses the influence of group membership on peoples self concepts + b’ w/others
- Ingroup bias – tendency to evaluate individuals + characteristics of the
ingroup as superior to those of outgroup
- Ingroup assimilation – process whereby individuals are socialized to conform
to the groups norms, demonstrating the characteristics that define the in group
I.e. boys more likely ot iniate + maintain role + group boundaries; more
rigorous stereotypes hold sexist attitudes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Biological origins for differences be/n males + females. B"s occur be/c they helped human survive during the course of evolution. Sex-linked dispositions evolved to increase the chances that women + men would successfully mate + protect their offspring (i. e. play, but its circular argument) Forces on the evolution of physical differences + proposes that differences have b" + social consequences. Males are larger, stronger, + faster so roles devel" that they excel at. Childbearing + nursing females have roles w/compassion + nurturance. Hormones + brain functioning focus on testing the effect of hormones + brain functioning on gender devel". Androgens a class of steroid hormones that incl testosterone. Organizing influences potential result of certain sex-linked hormones affecting brain differentiation + organization during prenatal devel" or at puberty. Activating influences potential result of certain fluctuations in sex-linked hormone levels affecting the contemporaneous activation of the nervous system + corresponding b" responses.
