Lesson 3

• Gene-by-environment


  The emergence of a genetic tendency only under certain environmental circumstances, or the environment shaping traits/behaviors only for individuals with a particular gene makeup
• Gene-by-environment interaction

  • Passive: parents create certain rearing environments that cannot be separated from their own genetic makeup
  • Evocative: An individual's genetic tendency to evoke specific treatment from others
  • Active: an individual's genetic tendency guides her to choose certain environments
• Diathesis-Stress Model


  People with a genetics predisposition fo a disorder only develop the disorder when they experience certain stressful environmental circumstances
• Epigenetics


  • The study of biological mechanisms that guide whether certain genes get expressed
  • Epigenetic marks are molecular structures that sit on genes and instruct them to activate or deactivate
• Sex differentiation


  The complex processes that unfold as sex undifferentiated embryos transition into individuals with male, female, or intersex internal and external genitalia
• Biological sex


  Product of chromosomes, genes, hormones, internal sex organs (e.g., gonads), and external genitalia. In most cases these factors align in a consistent manner to produce a biologically female or male person
• Mini Puberty


  A period of 6 month after birth when boy's testosterone levels and girl's testosterone and estrogen levels surge
• From puberty throughout young adulthood, men produce higher levels of testosterone
• Estrogen and progesterone play a little role in sex development before puberty
• Intersex conditions


  Displays inconsistency across biological components of sex, showing some combination of male and female components
• Optimal Sex


  The binary sex that doctors and parents perceive as the best option for a newborn whose genitalia appear atypical at birth
• Money et al. (1975) developed optimal sex policy to change intersex newborns to fit into the sex binary through socialization, early corrective surgery, and hormone treatments
• Professionals today recommends parents of intersex infants to postpone unnecessary surgeries and hormone treatments until children are old enough to consent
• Gender Dysphoria


  Clinically significant levels of distress arising from a mismatch between assigned sex at birth and one's felt sense of gender
• Gender Confirmation Procedures


  • Sought by transgender individuals to bring their physical bodies into greater alignment with their psychological identities
  • Surgical procedures (e.g., mastectomy)
  • Hormone treatments (e.g., feminizing or masculinizing hormones as injections or pills)
  • Therapy (e.g., speech and psychotherapies)
• Plasticity / Neuroplasticity


  Occurring mostly during adolescence, it is the brain's ability to reorganize and adapt physically in response to life experiences and environmental factors
• Dynamic Systems Theory (DST)


  Sex differences in the brain, body, and behavior are small to non-existent at birth but grow larger over time through dynamic interactions between caregivers and infants based on the former's gender expectations
• Neurosexism


  Occurs when people interpret the findings from neuroscience research in ways that reinforce gender stereotypes without valid supporting evidence
• Neuroethics


  Prompts neuroscientists to reflect systematically on their perspectives and research practices, and to consider social, legal and ethical implications of their findings
• Evolutionary Theory

  • Sex differences should arise in domains in which men and women faced different adaptive problems in their evolutionary past
  • Sexual selection allows specific traits to influence an organism's likelihood of reproduction and passing on its genes. It manifests in intrasexual and intersexual
  • Parental investment theory: sex investing more in parenting, typically females, becomes more selective in mate choice, preferring partners with social status and resources
• Biosocial Constructionist Theory


  • Biological differences between men and women lead to sex-based labor divisions in society, influencing the development of role-relevant skills and gender stereotypes
• Interactionist Theory


  • Recognizes the interactions between nature and nurture
  • Address how physical/biological differences may produce different behaviors and traits, and how sex differences might vary based on intersecting social categories
  • Consider a non-heterosexual lens to understand sexual activities
  • Recognize environmental influence on physiology/biology
• Social Learning Theories


  • Emphasize how external factors such as socialization agents shape children's gender development
  • Children learn by observing and imitating
• Cognitive Theories


  • Emphasize how children's growing cognitive abilities lead them to develop gender
  • Children learn by going through cognitive stages
• Socialization


  The ways in which society conveys to the individual its norms/expectations for their behavior
• Socialization agents

  • Parents and siblings
  • Teachers and peers
  • Media
• Parents

  • Create gender in social and biological senses upon discovering the sex of their child, even before the child is born
  • Models of expected gender roles and are an important source of reward and punishment in children's gender socialization
• There are no differences in gender development of children of gay vs straight parents, and those raised in single parent vs two parent households
• Children of same sex parents tend to endorse fewer gender stereotypes
• Some evidence suggests that parents in single parent families adopt a more gender egalitarian approach to socializing their children
• Parent–Child interactions


  Patterns of mutual influence between parents and children
• Siblings, Teachers, and Peers

  • Siblings play a role in children's gender development, with older siblings influencing their gender role development
  • Teachers can influence children's gender development by emphasizing binary sex categories and using gendered language
  • Socialization of children with sex-segregated peer groups can lead to sex-typical patterns of behavior, relationship styles, and emotional expressions
• Media

  Children gain exposure to media that sexualizes female characters and represents male characters in more active and leadership roles, lacks visibility of diverse races and ethnicities, and models sex-typical toy preferences
• Parent-Child interactions


  Patterns of mutual influence between parents and children
• Factors influencing children's gender development

  • Siblings
  • Teachers
  • Peers
• Siblings play a role in children's gender development, with older siblings influencing their gender role development
• Teachers can influence children's gender development by emphasizing binary sex categories and using gendered language
• Socialization of children with sex-segregated peer groups can lead to sex-typical patterns of behavior, relationship styles, and emotional expressions
• Aspects of media that influence gender development

  • Sexualizes female characters and represents male characters in more active and leadership roles
  • Lacks visibility of diverse races and ethnicities
  • Models sex-typical toy preferences
• Sex-Typed Toy Preferences


  Consistent sex difference in childhood that emerges across cultures