Exogenous zeitgebers

Here is the work on the last section of endogenous pacemakers - the effects of melatonin.

We've discussed how the regulation of biological rhythms is due to a fine balance between internal and external information. Exogenous zeitgebers are things like light, social cues and temperature - here is the powerpoint I used.

The template that you will need for the essay on pacemakers is here.

Introducing biological influences on gender

Work for next Wednesday:

Read your textbook and try to find one other text or on-line source, then make notes on the following:

• What are ‘sex chromosomes’ and what are they in males and females? 
• What are ‘hormones’ and ‘androgens’? Give an example of the latter. 
• What affect do sex hormones have on brain development in utero? – nuclei in the hypothalamus are different at birth 
• What happens if a person doesn’t respond to androgens?

Research and produce a very short (2 or 3 slide) powerpoint presentation on abnormal chromosomal and hormonal conditions, and the gender identities / behaviours that result from these, for Wednesday's lesson.

Cultural variations in gender role

We've now looked at the cross cultural research into gender development. Here is the presentation from the lesson. This contributes to the nature/nurture question, because if gender roles / behaviour are genetic / hormonal in origin we'd expect every culture to show the same differences. Anthropologists like Margaret Mead went looking for cultures which didn't fit, and found them, providing seemingly strong evidence for the Social Learning explanation of gender. However there are big methodological issues with anthropological research, particularly investigator effects (seeing what they want to see) and participant reactivity (trying to please the investigator).

Here is an essay question to do for homework for Wednesday 26th:

To what extent does cross cultural research support the importance of social learning in gender development? 8 AO1 + 16 AO2

Here is the first installment of the very useful Margaret Mead documentary

Of rats, chipmunks and weasels

Here is today's powerpoint on endogenous pacemakers.

The important thing to remember is that the endogenous clock can maintain rhythms without external cues (the electrical activity of the SCN carries on even if it is isolated from the rest of the brain), but it needs light input to work perfectly - hence the location of the SCN close to the optic nerves.

Cultural differences in gender role

For Friday:

Read about the investigation of gender roles in different cultures and make notes.

Your notes should answer the following questions:

• Why did researchers go looking for cultural differences in gender role?
• How did they conduct their research?
• What did they find?
• Why have their conclusions been questioned?

Sleep resources

Here is the sleep article by Jim Horne that I would like you to read.

Also, here are the presentations on circadian, infradian and ultradian rhythms.

Here is a copy of the sleep diary to fill in if you need another one.

Here is the schedule for the Sleep topic that I gave out in the first lesson. It includes all the essay titles and the specification so you will need your own copy if you missed it.

Psychology book club

Everyone is invited to the first meeting of our Psychology book club

R23, Monday 17th September at 1.30 pm

We will be reading 'As nature made him' by John Colapinto. Copies are limited so will  be shared within pairs. It is out of print but there are a number of used copies on Amazon. The following meeting will be 15th October where we will meet to discuss the book and introduce the next.

Social Influences on Gender Role

Here is the presentation for this lesson.

In addition to using studies (aim for four to six) to comment on (support or otherwise) the theory, you should offer some general evaluation of the Social Learning approach. There are some prompt questions on the last-but-one slide on the presentation - here is some help with the answers:

'Adevelopmental' means that a theory ignores the fact that children change as they develop. Learning Theory in general assumes that learning occurs in the same way at all ages - this may well not be true as children's ideas about gender change significantly between the ages of two and seven.

'Empirical testing' means using controlled experiments with objective results to test a theory. These ideas can be easily tested in naturalistic or laboratory observations - the predictions of the theories and the results of the study are clear. However focusing on one element of gender-related learning in an artificial environment may mean that research is too low in ecological validity. Aim to write a separate paragraph dealing with these 'methodological issues'.

It's hard to argue against parents, peers, the media and schools being important in the shaping of gender behaviour, but children may be more active in seeking out this information than the Learning Theory approach suggests. The main alternatives are the biological explanation (which states that boys and girls are different anyway, so we treat them differently) and the cognitive developmental approach (which doesn't really disagree with social learning, but which emphasis the active role and development of the child much more).


A homework essay for Monday:
Discuss research relating to the impact of parents, peers, schools and the media on gender development. 8 + 16 marks

Next lesson:
Describe and evaluate the social learning explanation of gender development. 4 + 8 marks (in 20 minutes)

Social influence on Gender - studies

Here is the presentation from this lesson.

¡Litton and Romney (1991) – Meta-analysis of parental treatment of boys and girls aged 6 found girls more encouraged to do household chores, boys outdoor tasks.

¡Seagel (1987) – fathers more likely to react negatively when sons carried out feminine behaviour.

¡Smith and Lloyd (1978) – babies in unisex snow-suits given different names are treated differently by carers (reinforcement of play etc).

¡Fagot (1985) – boys more likely to be criticised by peers for feminine activities.

¡Morgan (1982) – more TV correlates with stronger sex-typed identity.

¡Fagot et al (1982) – parents how show the clearest patterns of differential reinforcement have children who are quickest to develop strong gender preferences.

For each of these track it down in a textbook or online (search by name and date and you should be able to find all of them) and add some more detail to the brief outline of method and findings here. For our next lesson, whenever that may be!