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Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences

October 20

Lecture 12

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Office Hour InvitationsOctober 22, 2:30-4:30PM, Kenny 3102

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Exam Preparation Tips

• The upcoming midterm exam will include questions unique to the textbook content (~25%), questions unique to the lecture content (~40%), and questions that reflect overlap between the two sources of information (~35%). You are encouraged to study both sources of information thoroughly.

• With respect to the textbook content:

Create questions with the titles and subtitles of sections. Use the content of each section to answer

the questions that you have generated.

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Construct learning objectives for each section of the textbook (what should I take away from this section?).

Familiarize yourself with all terms that are bolded or italicized.

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Study all figures and tables.

Identify the primary points of each section with key words or phrases and use these to test yourself.

• With respect to the lecture content:

Use the learning objectives to guide your studying.

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• You need not memorize the names of researchers who conducted idiosyncratic studies or the dates of

those studies. However, you should familiarize yourself with the names of all major theorists (e.g., Bem).

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• The goal of the exam is to assess your mastery of the course content and “jargon” of gender psychology.

• In order to demonstrate your mastery of the course content on the extended response questions, you should provide thorough and detailed responses to the questions asked. The instructions for the extended response section will read:

“Please respond to each of the questions below. Note that point form answers are acceptable. Your responses should be thorough and detailed. If necessary, you may write on the back side of the page.”

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• Assume that the marker has no knowledge of the content related to the question.

• The exam questions will assess your ability to recall, synthesize, and apply course content. Examples:

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Recall: Which of the following is not among the attributes associated with the Cult of True Woman-hood? a) Purity.b) Submissiveness.c) Domesticity.d) Piety.e) Emotionality.

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Apply: Research has identified a sex difference in aggression; the mean score for males is higher than the mean score for females. Considering sex differences in reproductive capacity and minimal parental investment, generate an evolutionary explanation to account for this documented sex difference in aggression. That is, generate a theory to explain this finding that is based on sex differences in reproductive capacity and minimal parental investment.

Synthesize: Compare and contrast traditional sexism, modern sexism, hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism.

• In order to correctly respond to questions that require synthesis and application, recall is necessary. The correlation between recall questions and synthesis/ application questions typically exceeds .70.

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• The exam will cover:

Chapters 1-4All material discussed in class since the start of term.

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• Reminder: In the case of a discrepancy between the material presented in the textbook and the material presented in class, please rely upon the material presented in class for the purpose of exam preparation.

I will hold additional office hours and an optional Q&A review session in class in preparation for the exam:

Tuesday, October 27: 8:30-10:30AM (Kenny 3102) Tuesday, October 27: 11:00AM-12:30PM (Swing 222, optional Q&A review session)Wednesday, October 28: 8:30-10:00AM (Buchanan A240)

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Announcement

A little R&R ….(Review and Reflect)

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X-chromosome inactivation: “Early in embryonic development in females, one of the two X chromosomes is randomly and permanently inactivated in cells other than egg cells. This phenomenon is called X-inactivation …. X-inactivation ensures that females, like males, have one functional copy of the X chromosome in each body cell. Because X-inactivation is random, in normal females the X chromosome inherited from the mother is active in some cells, and the X chromosome inherited from the father is active in other cells” (http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/ chromosome/x). The inactive X chromosome does not express the majority of its genes, unlike the active X chromosome.

Clarification

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Biological Theories of Sex Differences

1. What biological theories have been proposed to explain sex differences? (continued)

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

1. review evidence that supports genetic contributions to sex differences in psychological characteristics.

2. discuss the heritability of sex-related psychological characteristics.

3. identify the three classes of sex-related hormones.

4. review evidence that supports hormonal contributions to sex differences in psychological characteristics.

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7. describe the impact of “pair-bonding” and fatherhood on testosterone levels among males.

6. define the “challenge hypothesis.”

5. discuss the relationship between testosterone and aggression.

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2. Genetic Theories (continued)

What biological theories have been proposed to explain sex differences? (continued)

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Research suggests that, in addition to sex differentiation, genes influence the psychological characteristics of the sexes.

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• Among the measures that participants completed were: the Adjective Checklist, occupational interests, and frequency of everyday activities.

Example: Twin Studies

Lippa and Hershberger (1999; also see Loehlin et al, 2005; Knafo et al., 2005)

• Analyzed data collected from 839 same-sex pairs of twins.

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• Heritability statistics obtained:

“Masculine” instrumentality = .36

“Feminine” expressiveness = .38

GD (gender diagnosticity) = .53

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There are three classes of sex-related hormones:

Estrogens (e.g., estradiol; relatively high among females).

Progestins (e.g., progesterone).

Androgens (e.g., testosterone; relatively high among males).

3. Hormonal Theories

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Estrogens and androgens are particularly important in sex differentiation, in utero and at puberty.

Research suggests, in addition to sex differentiation, hormones influence the psychological and behavioural characteristics of the sexes.

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Example 1: Non-Human Animal Experiments

• Contrasted the behaviour of male mice exposed to high prenatal testosterone levels and male mice exposed to low prenatal testosterone levels.

vom Saal, Grant, McMullen, and Laves (1983)

• Target embryos were “placed” between male siblings or female siblings.

• Males exposed to higher testosterone levelsdisplayed more aggressive behaviour postnatally.

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Dabbs, Carr, Frady, and Riad (1995);Dabbs, Ruback, Frady, Hopper, and Sgoutas (1988)

• Found that female and male prison inmates who had relatively high levels of testosterone displayed higher levels of “negative” masculinity (e.g., impulsiveness, aggression, disobedience; vs. positive masculinity).

Example 2: Correlational Studies

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Example 3: Meta-Analytic Studies

Book, Starzyk, and Quinsey (2001; also see Archer et al., 2005; Book & Quinsey, 2005)

• Conducted a meta-analysis of 45 studies that examined the relationship between testosterone and aggression among males and females.

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• Average correlation was +.23; correlation was strongest among males aged 13 – 20 years, r = +.58.

• The authors proposed the “challenge hypothesis” to explain the latter finding (also see Lee et al., 2011).

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

1. review evidence that supports genetic contributions to sex differences in psychological characteristics.

2. discuss the heritability of sex-related psychological characteristics.

3. identify the three classes of sex-related hormones.

4. review evidence that supports hormonal contributions to sex differences in psychological characteristics.

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7. describe the impact of “pair-bonding” and fatherhood on testosterone levels among males.

6. define the “challenge hypothesis.”

5. discuss the relationship between testosterone and aggression.