Sex differences in intelligence
Gender differences in verbal ability
Raquel Aragoneses Velasco and Brenda Ruano Bodemer
Index
The equality of the sexes: fact or artefact? 2
Are there sex differences in overall IQ (or g)? 3
Sex differences in particular abilities 4
Differences in Gf 4
Are there differences in variability? 5
Analysis of verbal, mathematical and spatial abilities 5
Verbal ability 5
Mathematics 6
Spatial ability 6
Explanations 7
Test bias 7
Biology 8
Environment 9
More in depth: Gender differences in verbal ability 9
Conclusion 11
References 12
A big debate has been formed in concern with the fact that there may be sex differences between males and females. The general opinion about this has always been that there is not a remarkable and reliable
…show more content…
In their meta-analysis, Hide and Linn (1988) put the example of Anastasi that argued that gender differences were found for simpler verbal tasks whereas Maccoby and Jacklin concluded that female superiority was found in both high-level and low-level tasks.
As Mackintosh (2011) mentions, Halpern (2000) has reviewed other data concluding that females also outscore males on a variety of measures of language production making fewer errors when talking and writing, they speak more grammatically, pause less often in their speech and discriminate better between speech sounds.
We argue that beyond the global statement that females have superior verbal ability to males, we know very little about the nature of the gender difference in verbal ability, either in terms of the types of abilities showing gender differences or the developmental timing of possible differences.
Of all the 70 scientific studies Tannen could have chosen to talk about, the number of which she releases later in her paper, her choice of these two serves to demonstrate how biased and varied in results the scientific studies on this topic have been in the past. This helps Tannen justify the need for her article on the subject as it gives reason to why the issue on which gender speaks more still has not yet been resolved. Later in her essay, Tannen uses the results of a survey done by Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres on the results of 70 studies published in scientific journals several times. Her first use of their results follows her statements on the studies talked about earlier in this paper, noting that they “found that counting words yielded no consistent differences”. She then goes on to say, “Campbell and Ayres note that many studies find women doing more ‘affiliative
Engendering the Brain written by Melissa Hines provides an insight of hormonal influences and implications on brain gender. The chapter begins with explaining the differences between gender difference and sex difference, and explains the psychological factors responsible for brain gender. It describes the role of hormones in the genetic development of individuals and their sexual differentiation. It illustrates a list of hormones, such as testosterone and DHT, which are responsible for sex-related characteristics. Furthermore, the chapter gives an account of how the gonadal hormone plays a crucial role in the development of human brain and human behavior.
According to Broca, the average weight of 292 male brains was 1,325 grams and 1,114 grams for 140 female brains. Hence, the average weight difference between male and female brains were 181 grams. The explicit statistics Gould provided may shock his audiences and evoke their curiosity of the reason behind this dramatic difference. Gould then went on to point out the loophole in Broca’s argument that, he “made no attempt to measure the effect of size alone” and claimed that height “cannot account for the entire difference.” Evidently, Broca’s research lacked consideration towards confounding variables that have affected the results and the conclusion he drew from it, and hence his claim of women inferiority was inaccurate.
These traits should not be associated with one specific gender as these traits is as likely to be shown by
In another experiment, it showed that females were more helpful. There have been observations that a person (either female or male) is more comfortable assisting a female than a male. Some people believe that women are kinder, comfortable, and helpful which is the reason why they tend to be assisted more than
Morghan Renfrow Instructor C. Shackelford English 1113, Section 101 1 September 2016 Analysts of “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” An essay written by Deborah Tannen called “How male and females students use language differently”, is describing how they talk and interact with others. The writer presents different studies on how language changes based on a certain person. The essay states that men are more aggressive and talkative, while women are calm and modest about talking about the views they share.
According to sexologists John Money and Anke Ehrhardt, sex and gender are separate categories. “Sex, they argued, refers to physical attributes and is anatomically and physiologically determined. Gender they saw as a psychological transformation - the internal conviction that one is either male or female (gender identity) and the behavioral expressions of that conviction” (Sterling 4). Although there are biological differences between the two sexes, but gender roles are socially constructed. They determine how males and females should think, speak, dress, behave and interact with society.
One of these perspectives is analyzing communication through gender. In the book, You Just Don’t Understand, Deborah Tannen (1990) popularized the term “genderlect” to describe the way in which men and women communicate with each other. She suggested that men and women have different styles of conversing, forming two distinct dialects. In a review of Tannen’s book, DeFrancisco (1992) attributed the differing communication styles of men and women to the respective cultures in which they grow up. Because of such gender differences, misunderstanding between men and women creates a gap in the communication process.
Brain scans tell part of the story. In general, more areas of girls' brains, including the cerebral cortex (responsible for memory, attention, thought, and language) are dedicated to verbal functions while in boys' brains; a greater part of the cerebral cortex is dedicated to spatial and mechanical functioning. So, boys tend to learn better with movement and pictures rather than just words. It is definitely a fact that girls tend to mature a little faster than boys, developing language skills sooner and giving them the edge over boys in reading, writing and speech.
Unlike ‘sex’, which typically refers to the biological and physiological differences, gender is a sociological concept that describes the social and cultural constructions that is associated with one’s sex (Giddens & Sutton, 2013, p. 623-667). The constructed (or invented) characteristics that defines gender is an ongoing process that varies between societies and culture and it can change over time. For example, features that are overly masculine in one culture can be seen as feminine in another; however, the relation between the two should not be seen as static. Gender socialization is thought to be a major explanation for gender differences, where children adhere to traditional gender roles from different agencies of socialization. Gender
The deficiency theory suggests that gender differences in language reflect power differences in society. In mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women. An old study of a small sample of conversations, (Zimmerman & West 1975) at the University of California produced 31 segments of conversation. In 11 conversations between men and women, men used 46 interruptions, but women only 2. However, it is true that in studies like these, one interrupting man can seriously destabilise these results and skew conclusions (Beattie 1982).
The questionable and ambiguous nature surrounding the notion that children play an active role in acquiring language has been debated by many theorists of different perspectives. These three perspectives include the learning view, the nativist view and the interactionist view. In this essay I will discuss each perspective with reference to psychological theories and research that relates to each view. The learning perspective of language acquisition suggests that children acquire language through imitation and reinforcement (Skinner, 1957). The ideology behind this view claims that children develop language by repeating utterances that have been praised by their parent, therefore gaining a larger vocabulary and understanding of phrases over
) Abstract Since women have started to become involved in competitive work field, important differences between men and women have emerged. It is clear that men have the more prominent roles in the work environment. Noticeably, men have the majority in science, academia and high-ranking job positions. I believe that everyone, at least once, has asked the following question to herself/himself: ‘is it more advantageous to be a man or a woman in the workforce?’
The article states that, “Chronologically, another important contribution was Maccoby and Jacklin’s (1974) book, The Psychology of Sex Differences. This book presented an unparalleled synthesis of research findings on gender differences in development” (para. 9). It highlights that within-gender differences are often larger than those between the genders (a point still lost in many of the popularized beliefs held today) (Para. 9). This quote explains that the way a girl or a boy looks at the opposite gender, may not be the way the opposite gender looks at itself.
Despite divergent methodologies and standpoints, feminists accept the dominant view in contemporary feminism that “gender is fixed, determined and foundational” (Cosgrove, 2003). Feminists have used meta-analysis to challenge the stereotype of girls being less proficient in math than boys and in differences in aggressive behavior. However, despite research demonstrating the lack of such gender differences in mathematics or aggressive behavior, the gendered stereotypes have remained and are perpetuated by the media. This review suggests that the stereotypical perception of males and females have not benefitted from the feminist empiricist research. The goal of feminist psychologists to bring about social change has not been fruitful to that