Sex Differences and Cognitive

Development
Course Code: PY 407
Course Title: Gender Issues in Psychology
Course Instructor: Raiha Aftab
 Cognition (samjh boojh)
› The thoughts, knowledge, or all mental processes
involved in the act of knowing
› It includes
 Perception
 Thinking
 Attention
 Language
 Reasoning
 Classifying
 Problem Solving
 Creativity
 Schema
 Cognitive Development Organised clusters of
information.
 A mental blue print of information. E.g. When we
say picnic, what do we think of? What is expected?
 A cognitive framework which helps us to organize
and interpret information.
 They focus on things which help us to confirm our
pre-existing ideas or beliefs and often contribute to
stereotypes.
 gender schemas

 Includes knowledge of what being male and

female means
› Gender schematic
› Gender aschematic
 Gender schema theory defines the process by
which we acquire gender.
 Research believe that the humans are born with
equal capabilities of cognition in their mind.
 Differences seen in people are due to
› “stimulation” and “growth opportunities”
› Cultural and sociological factors
› Sex role typing
 Attention
 Opportunities
 Chance
 Being in the right place at the right time
 Achievement vs. Aptitude
 In the world of knowledge fewer women have
come to the surface
 The underlying reasons are cultural, societal and
some biological constraints which do not allow
women to concentrate as men do.
 Over all test indicate non significant differences
 Girls generally score higher than boys on tests of
intelligence up-to adolescent. But if tests are
controlled for the types of abilities tested, the
differences are nullified
 During adulthood males have a slight advantage
over females regarding intelligence
 Theory

 Gender Schema
 Constructionist and Post Modern Perspective
 Deaux and Majors Model of contextual
perspectives
 Gender related abilities
Gender Schema
 Gender Schema Theory• An extension of
cognitive developmental theory
› Explains gender identity in terms of schemata
 Cognitive structures that underlie complex concepts.
 Behavior changes to conform to gender roles.
 Constructionist and Post Modern
Perspective

All Knowledge Is Constructed With The Viewpoint Of The Knower

Ability-wise Differences
Verbal
Memory
Numerical/Mathematical abilities
Creativity and problem solving
Perceptual processes
Spatial and mathematical aptitude
Artistic and musical aptitude
Manual dexterity
VERBAL ABILITIES
Females males
 Superior from infancy to  Boys tend to have more
adulthood stuttering and
 Then it remains constant stammering disorders
 Say first word sooner  Men use more verbs,
 Clear pronunciation
implements and utensils,
 Sentence structure is complex
abstracts and occupation.
 Opposites, analogues,
sentence completion, story
completions , and
comprehension
 Memory

 Females excel in memory at all ages

› Repetition
› Reproduction of designs
 Social context related memory is better in women
› School classmates names and faces
 Numerical/Mathematical Ability

 Boys excel in all ages

› The difference signifies from childhood to early
adolescence
 Reasoning, ingenuity, induction
› Numerical or arithmetic reasoning ~ males
 Females score high on speed and accuracy
› Multitasking
› Relational thinking
› logical reasoning
 Creativity and Problem Solving
 Men seems to be superior when the problem requires the
ability to break, reset, or restructure a problem
 Convergent thinking tasks
 The ability to give answer to questions that do not require creativity
 Current events, study skills, problem solving judgment and analogues
 Male dominance
 Divergent thinking tasks
 It’s a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by
exploring many possible solutions
 Object uses, word uses, pilot titles,
expressional fluency, subject improvement
 Female dominance
Convergent thinking

Divergent thinking
 Perceptual Process
 Perception is the process by which organisms
interpret sensation to produce a meaningful
experience of the world.
 Perceptual of details
 Perception functions concerned with spatial orientation
› Females tend perform better on Perceptual of details
› because it relates to rapid perception of detail and frequent
shifts of attention.
› Males tend to be better at spatial orientation,
 Figure and ground abilities
 Disregarding visual cues
 Spatial and Mechanical Aptitude
 Males have been found to be superior
 Artistic and musical ability
› Females have superiority
 Manual Dexterity
› Females have superiority
 Analytical ability
 Males are favored
 Conceptual formations
 Females are favored
Course Description
 The objective of this course is to
› Provide an understanding of psychology of gender, gender
differences and related research evidence
› Acquaint students with the contemporary gender related debates
and issues particularly with relevance to the Pakistani context
 Course Objectives

 By studying this course, students will be in a position to:

› Differentiate facts from myths about sex and gender differences
in the context f personality, cognition, mental health, morality,
achievement, empathy, and aggression
› Contemplate about gender issues faced particularly in the
Pakistani context such as abuse, harassment, ownership of
property, gender discrimination across different levels.