PSY354H5 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Semen, Prostate, Gamete
PSY354H5
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Lecture 1 | The Biopsychology of Sex
MEANING OF THE WORD “EX
- historiall, se eat hether a perso as a a or oa
- starting from the 18th etur, the eaig of the ord se ega to take o a ariet of differet ters
- by the late 19th century, it was applied to the whole topic of genital anatomy, as well as its function (that is, the
behaviour associated with it)
- e a see o that there is a hole rage of ters that are aptured the ord se
- during the 1900s, there was another word used to describe femaleness and maleness: gender
- the ord gender reflets to a olletio of ogitie, ehaioural, ad geeral persoalit traits that oe group
seems to share more in common with others
- these traits seem to define differences between the traditional notion of the sexes (that is, maleness and
femaleness)
- although we think of sex and gender as one and the same, they are not
- most do identify sex and gender ads being the same (biological sex is consistent with the sense of gender we
have), this is known as cis-gender
- anatomical traits of one sex but the personality traits of another (inconsistency between biological sex and the
sense of gender) is known as trans-gender
SEXUALITY
- Sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles,
sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction.
- Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours,
practices, roles and relationships.
- While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or expressed. Sexuality
is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal,
historical, religious and spiritual factors.
SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
- They may last a few minutes or several decades
- They may be motivated by physical attraction, emotional bonding, a sense of duty, a desire to be a parent, a
desire to conform or rebel, or economic factors
- They may be mutually fulfilling, one-sided, unhappy, or abusive
- Sexual behaviour and sexual relationships take place in a moral context
- We all have a sense of what is right or wrong
THE STUDY OF SEXUALITY
- sexuality has typically been a taboo subject
- in terms of biology, scientists and biologists have been studying the brain and mind for thousands of years
- aspects of sexuality are relatively suppressed
- while the study of sex is relatively new, it has a spotty history with traditionally different perspectives of it
- Philosophers from Ancient Greece discussed sexuality and its various forms
- homosexuality (exclusive sexual attraction to the same sex as oneself) was considered odd
- Aristotle thought about many subjects, and he made interesting observations about the sexes
- Greek philosophers didt stud aato, so the tried to stud the differees etee ales ad feales
instead of doing direct observation
- ost of Aristotles thoughts aout the differees etee e ad oe ere iorret
• thought that e odies ere ade i the perfet iage of God
• oes odies, hoeer, ere ade fro spare parts
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• a oes o had eess spae ad ould ader aroud the od, ausig eird sesatios ad
senses that make women go crazy
• the ord hsteria ae from the idea that the womb moved around the body and had to be put back in
place
- In the late 17th century a Dutch medical student, Johan Ham, placed a drop of semen under a primitive
microscope.
SEXUAL SELECTION
- Darwin conceived of natural selection.
- Coined the term seual seletio to eplai apparent anomalies
- trying to explain why we see some males go to such lengths to develop, through some kind of selection process
- thought that we could study differences between the sexes in an objective way, and not rely on notions of ancient
philosophical thinking
Sex in History
- SIGMUND FREUD
• most of his beliefs about the development of human behaviour are based on no-scientific observations that
at e proe eperiets
• sex drive is an important life form, and all of our personalities contain three components
• Id, ego, and superego
• at birth, a child only has one of those portions of their personality: the Id (controls the pleasure centre and
drives primitive desires)
• during development, if there were experiees that didt go right, our persoalit ould e derailed hat
he ould all perersios
• mental states we have and sexual desires are directed towards atypical targets
• atypical targets would be individuals of the same sex, inanimate objects, etc., or they could lead to neuroses
(repressed and struggling to get out through the Id that it gets out in other form sof psychoses, such as
depression, anxiety, and OCD)
• earlier notions of the development of the Id, Ego, and Superego are important for normal development
• The unconscious mind was more broadly focused in its sexual desires than was the conscious mind
• This was particularly true during early childhood, which he believed included autoerotic and homosexual
phases as well as incestuous desires directed toward one or the other parent
- MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD
• wanted to identify an anatomical origin of sexual attraction
• early in life, all individuals contain both sexual attraction centres to men and women, but one comes to
dominate one over another
• Two neural centres in the brain that were responsible for sexual attraction to men and to women
• During early fetal life, all humans possessed both centers, but later one center grew and dominated, while
the other regressed
• it is not a learned, suppressed, or treatable feature to be heterosexual or homosexual, but rather it is an
inherent part of our biology
- SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE (ALFRED KINSEY)
• fored a istitute to stud idiiduals pereptios of seual desires ad ehaiours
• What is the link between sexual behaviours and attitudes of individuals to larger social structures?
• developed a scale of measuring sexual orientation (Kinsey Scale)
o 0 = exclusively heterosexual and 6 = exclusively homosexual
• notion emerged that sexuality can be more fluid
• disputed the otios that soiet had that oe aret seual i ature
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Document Summary
Sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction. Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships. While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors. They may last a few minutes or several decades. They may be motivated by physical attraction, emotional bonding, a sense of duty, a desire to be a parent, a desire to conform or rebel, or economic factors. They may be mutually fulfilling, one-sided, unhappy, or abusive. Sexual behaviour and sexual relationships take place in a moral context. We all have a sense of what is right or wrong.
