Gender

• characteristics, whether biologically or socially influenced, by which people define male and female.

Gender RoleI'm Glad I'm a Boy--

• A set of expected behaviours for males and females

• List some of the “normal” gender roles.

What gender role is she breaking?

Gender Identity

• one’s own sense of being male or female.

• realized through gender-typing : acquiring the traditional masculine or feminine roles

Gender Typing Theories

Social Learning TheoryLets use Sammy as an example.

Social Learning Theory

Baseball. Sammy imitates my behavior.I reward Sammy.

Sammy’s Mom puts on makeup.

Sammy copies her. I punish Sammy

Gender Schema Theory• Schema: a concept or framework

of how we organize information.• Develop schemas for gender.• See the world through the lens of

your gender schemas.

Boy’s don’t do this, that’s for girls.

Yeah, that’s cool!!!!I want to do that.

Genes: Our Biological Blueprint

Chromosomes threadlike structures made of DNA that contain the

genes

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) complex molecule containing the genetic

information that makes up the chromosomes has two strands-forming a “double helix”--held

together by bonds between pairs of nucleotides

Genes: Our Biological Blueprint

Genes biochemical units of heredity that make up the

chromosomes a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein

Genome the complete instructions for making an organism consisting of all the genetic material in its

chromosomes

Evolutionary Psychology

Natural Selection the principle that, among the range of inherited trait

variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Mutations random errors in gene replication that lead to a

change in the sequence of nucleotides the source of all genetic diversity

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology the study of the evolution of behavior and

the mind, using the principles of natural selection

Gender in psychology, the characteristics, whether

biologically or socially influenced, by which people define male and female

Behavior Genetics

• The study of the power and limitations of genes on who we are.

Twin Studies

• Identical Twins – same egg, same genes

• Fraternal Twins – different egg, different genes

Which of the following pairs is

likely to be the most similar?

Identical Twins (Together)

Identical Twins (Apart)

Fraternal Twins (Apart)

Fraternal Twins (Together)

Why?

Twin Studies: The Results

• Twins, (especially identical) whether or not they are raised in the same environment are very much alike in many ways.

Behavior Genetics

Temperament a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity

and intensity Heritability

the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes

may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied

Behavior Genetics

Interaction the dependence of the effect of one factor

(such as environment) on another factor (such as heredity)

Environmental Influence

Experience affects brain development

Impoverishedenvironment

Rat braincell

Rat braincell

Enrichedenvironment

Environmental Influence

A trained brain

Environmental Influence

Culture the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and

traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Norm an understood rule for accepted and

expected behavior

Environmental Influence

Personal Space the buffer zone we like to maintain

around our bodies

Memes self-replicating ideas, fashions, and

innovations passed from person to person