PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bombyx Mori, Major Trauma, Biological Specificity

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Brenda Baird

Document Summary

Class 2b - agenda for today: gender development, gender similarities and differences, the nature of gender, the nurture of gender, reflections on nature and nurture. Development through the life span: prenatal development and the newborn, conception, prenatal development, the competent newborn, gender development, gender similarities and differences, the nature of gender: our biology, the nurture of gender: our culture. Human males and females are genetically identical except for one of the 46 chromosomes we possess. Given this, it is not surprising that males and females are objectively very similar in terms of physical characteristics and mental capabilities. However, just as left-handed and right-handed people differ, differences exist between males and females. There are two major difficulties in characterising these differences: avoiding stereotypes and preconceptions, ensuring that we rely on evidence, and, somewhat related, observing rather than comparing behaviours and attitudes to societal norms. The text lists (p. 161 and following) several objective differences between males and females.