PSYCH 130 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13.5: Relational Aggression, Stereotype Threat, Mull
Document Summary
Girls are slightly ahead of boys in language. Differences in literacy skills contribute to widening gender gap in college enrollment. Girls have biological advantage in earlier development of left hemisphere where language is localized. Boys show more widespread activation, girls more efficient. Girls also receive more verbal stimulation from preschool onward. Children view language arts as a feminine subject. Parental involvement contributes to achievement and educational attainment of young people of both sexes. Girls are advantaged in counting, arithmetic computation, mastery of basic concepts. Boys outperform girls in abstract and spatial math. Boy"s advantage increases as problems become more difficult. Boys advantage originates from their more rapid numerical memory and their superior spatial reasoning which enhances mathematical problem solving. Children view math as a masculine subject and parents typically believe boys are better at it. Stereotype threat causes girls to do worse than their abilities allow on difficult math problems.
