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Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences

Lecture 8

A.D.H.D.Attention Detours on a Highway Drive

Student Directed Seminar Term 2: ASTU 400A Mondays 4pm – 7pm

Graduate seminar format- Lead a class, dive deeper- Feedback on presentation, content analysis and discussionSuccessfully manage everyday difficulties- Practical knowledge to use or share (while earning credit)- Knowledge breadth and depthChallenge your current paradigm - Empirical research (implications of knowledge, effect on society, personal impact)- Increase awareness of stigma, personal accountability and social responsibility

Application Required!Email: kaychan05@gmail.com

An e-mail has been circulated to members of the Peer Learning Community (PLC) for Psychology 320. The first meeting of the PLC will be held on Monday, October 1st, 5:00-6:00, in room 2510 of the Kenny Building (the Suedfeld Lounge).

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Announcement

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2. What theories and research characterize the history of gender psychology?

Research Methods and History of Research on Gender Psychology

1. What sources of bias do psychologists encounter when conducting research on gender? (continued)

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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

2. describe major shifts in theory and research on sex and gender between 1879 and 1954.

3. describe early measures (i.e., operationalizations) of gender.

1. discuss strategies to minimize participant-related bias in gender psychology.

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Use separate measures to assess and control for SDR:

E.g., Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Paulhus Deception Scales.

• Remedies for participant effects (i.e., SDR, continued):

What sources of bias do psychologists encounter when conducting research on gender? (continued)

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Items from the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (T/F)

I never hesitate to go out of my way to help someone. (T)

I have never intensely disliked anyone. (T)

No matter who I’m talking to, I’m always a good listener. (T)

There have been times when I was quite jealous of the good fortune of others. (F)

On occasion I have had doubts about my ability to succeed in life. (F)

There have been occasions when I felt like smashing something. (F)

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Items from the Paulhus Deception Scales (T/F)

I never swear. (T)

I always obey laws, even if I’m unlikely to get caught. (T)

When I hear people talking privately, I avoid listening. (T)

I have never dropped litter on the street. (T)

I sometimes drive faster than the speed limit. (F)

I have received too much change from a salesperson without telling him or her. (F)

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What theories and research characterize the history of gender psychology?

A. 1879 – 1894: The Inception and Rise of Psychology

• Wundt proposed a natural science of the mind: psychology.

• Psychology adopted a structuralist perspective.

• Little interest in sex and/or gender differences.

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B. 1894 – 1920: Sex Difference in Intelligence

• Psychology shifted to a functionalist perspective.

• Ellis (1894) published Man and Woman.

• Primary sex difference of interest: intelligence.

• Researchers largely studied sex differences in brain size (e.g., weight, cranial capacity).

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• This research demonstrated sex differences in brain size.

• These findings were taken as support for the widelyheld belief that females are less intelligent than males:

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“We might ask if the small size of the female brain depends exclusively upon the small size of her body. Tiedemann has proposed this explanation. But we must not forget that women are, on the average, a little less intelligent than men, a difference which we should not exaggerate but which is, nonetheless, real. We are therefore permitted to suppose that the relatively small size of the female brain depends in part upon her physical inferiority and in part upon her intellectual inferiority” (Broca, 1861, p. 153).

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“The man who fights for two or more in the struggle for existence, who has all the responsibility and the cares of tomorrow, who is constantly active in combating the environment and human rivals, needs more brain than the woman whom he must protect and nourish, than the sedentary woman, lacking any interior occupations, whose role is to raise children, love and be passive” (Topinard, 1888, p. 22).

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“In the most intelligent races, as among the Parisians, there are a large number of women whose brains are closer in size to those of gorillas than to the most developed male brains. This inferiority is so obvious that no one can contest it for a moment; only its degree is worth discussion. All psychologists who have studied the intelligence of women, as well as poets and novelists, recognize today that they represent the most inferior forms of human evolution and that they are closer to children and savages than to an adult, civilized man. They excel in fickleness, inconstancy, absence of thought and logic, and incapacity to reason. Without doubt there exist some distinguished women, very superior to the average man, but they are as exceptional as the birth of any monstrosity, as, for example, of a gorilla with two heads; consequently, we may neglect them entirely” (Le Bon, 1879, p. 60-61).

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• Ultimately, Terman and Cox (1936) published Sex and Personality, in which they concluded that there are no sex differences in intelligence:

“Intelligence tests, for example, have demonstrated for all time the falsity of the once widely prevalent belief that women as a class are appreciably or at all inferior to men in the major aspects of intellect” (p. 1).

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C. 1920 – 1936: The Objective vs. the Subjective

• Psychology adopted two new perspectives:

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1. The behaviorist perspective.

> Largely studied learning and memory among nonhuman species.

> Little interest in sex and/or gender differences.

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2. The psychoanalytic perspective.

> Proposed by Sigmund Freud.

> Maintained that gender differences in personality and morality result from sex differences in “psychosexual development.”

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D. 1936 – 1954: M/F as a Global Personality Trait

• Psychologists shifted their interest from sex differences to gender roles.

• The construct of masculinity/femininity (M/F) was introduced by Terman.

• The Attitude Interest Analysis Survey (Terman & Miles, 1936) was developed as a self-report measure of M/F.

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2. What theories and research characterize the history of gender psychology?

Research Methods and History of Research on Gender Psychology

1. What sources of bias do psychologists encounter when conducting research on gender? (continued)