Cognitive Developmental explanations of gender - Kohlberg's Gender Constancy Theory

We're back to the 'nurture' side of the gender debate here, but whereas the Social Learning approach assumes that behaviours are learned in the same way regardless of age, this one emphasises changes in the way ideas about gender are acquired. Children are also seen more as active seekers of gender information, rather than being passively taught / reinforced.

Kohlberg's theory of Gender Constancy basically argues that children don't start to deliberately acquire gender roles until they understand that their gender is fixed and won't (naturally) change. An important related idea is 'conservation' - the ability to understand that some fundamental property of a thing stays the same when in changes in a superficial way.

Here is the presentation from the lesson.

Here is Ernie Lawrence aged three and a bit, not showing much in the way of conservation:

Here he is last week, now four and a bit, capable of conservation in the simpler situation:

Edith Lawrence, aged two and four months, doesn't seem to have achieved Kohlberg's first stage, gender identity, at first, but her later answers are probably more valid, but she clearly isn't a gender expert:

Ernie aged three and a bit - gender identity, and signs of gender stability.

Aged four and a bit - gender stability more-or-less evident but gender consistency still some way off:

Evolutionary explanations of gender

Evolutionary explanations are different from biological explanations of gender development (in terms of genes and hormones) but don't contradict them. Rather they deal with 'distal' or 'ultimate' causes (why biological differences, and hence psychological ones, have come about between males and females) whereas the biological explanations deal with 'proximate' or 'immediate' causes - how these differences become manifest.

There are different evolutionary theories - you should know two and we have covered:
Sexual Division of Labour - the idea that men are psychologically specialised for hunting, and women for gathering and child rearing.
Parental Investment Theory - the idea that different reproductive behaviour gives men and women the best chance of passing on their genes (women should exercise more 'quality control' when deciding who to have sex with, and should only have sex when they are reasonably sure that they will have the support they need to raise a child).

Here is the presentation from the lesson.

Here is a blog post that give a bit of insight into the controversy that rages around evolutionary explanations - it has some links that would be worth exploring if you have the time.

An essay on this is due on Wednesday 7th November:
"Discuss two or more evolutionary explanations for differences in gender role."
8 marks AO1 + 16 marks AO2
Handwrite or word process, but don't make it too long - aim for 600-800 words (the length you will hopefully be capable of in 25 minutes come June!).

More sleep please

The powerpoint containing the summary of sleep (ie general things we can say about sleep) is here.

We've now started to investigate some of the theories that attempt to explain why we sleep. We looked at two evolutionary theories - the energy conservation theory and the predator avoidance theory. Neither theory is satisfactory on their own, but probably go someway towards explaining the benefits of sleep - if not actually why we sleep. The ppt containing the work on evolutionary theories is here.

Jet-lag and an essay

We've now finished our look at what happens when rhythms are disrupted - using the examples of shift work and jet lag. The ppt on jet lag is here.

Your next essay is:

Discuss the consequences of disrupting biological rhythms (e.g. jet lag, shift work). (24 marks).

Due Monday 5th November. 

More evidence for the biological approach to gender

We looked at evidence using correlations between 2D:4DR (a finger-length ratio related (but only indirectly) to sex-hormone exposure before birth) and gender role / gender identity as identified using questionnaires - this doesn't provide very strong evidence for the importance of hormones in gender development, but does it significantly weaken the biological explanation?

We also very briefly introduced the Bruce / Brenda / David Reimer case (subject of the book-club book). Here is the documentary in case you're not much of a reader:

Here is the presentation from the lesson. Notes for Wednesday next week:

• Outline research support for the role of genes and hormones: 
• Animal studies (Young 1966) 
• Case studies with abnormal individuals (Money) 
• Correlations with normal populations (Troche et al 2007) 
• Discuss methodological issues 
• Draw an overall conclusion

Shift work

Working at night is an inevitable by-product of our 24 hour society for a large number of workers. We looked at some industrial accidents that have occured because of human error at night, like Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and also looked at the poorer health outcomes reported for shift workers. You need to be able to discuss how we can try to improve these poor outcomes - using your knowledge of human biological rhythms. Today's ppt is here.

Biological influences on gender - genes and hormones

Make sure your can describe the sequence of events by which the genes on the Y chromosome lead to a male gender identity / male gender behaviour according to the biological approach. Key words to use:
Androgen
Prenatal
Hypothalamus

Here is the presentation from the lesson.

Homework is to make notes addressing these questions on Young (1966):

What does this suggest about human gender development?
What are the strengths of this research?
- What arguments can be made for applying these findings to human gender development?

What are the limitations?
- What are the arguments against?