PSYCH 300: HUMAN DIVERSITY

The Psychology of Individual Differences

Quiz #6 – April 13, 2000

  1. (4 points) In their comprehensive review of studies of sex differences in behavior, on what four dimensions did Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) find consistent mean differences between boys and girls? Indicate the direction of difference in each area.
      Verbal ability: males < females
      Spatial ability: males > females
      Aggression: males > females
      Math ability: males > females

     
  1. (4 points) Briefly describe the sex-typed toy preferences of the four groups of children (normal boys and girls, and boys and girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia—CAH) in the recent study by Berenbaum and Hines (1992). Specifically, what were the differences (a) between normal boys and girls, and (b) between normal girls and CAH girls.
    1. Normal girls played with a variety of toys, although slightly more with dolls and kitchen toys ("girl" toys). Boys showed a clear preference for transportation toys and blocks ("boy" toys) and a clear lack of interest in "girl" toys.
    2. CAH girls look more similar to normal boys, in that they prefer "boy" toys to "girl" toys.
  1. Briefly describe two of the following terms (2points)
    1. Gender identity: masculinity and femininity—the extent to which one’s self-perception is masculine or feminine.
    2. Sex difference: mean (or variance) difference between males and females.
    3. Androgeneous: high masculine and high feminine gender identity.
    4. Fundamental attribution error: attributing others’ behavior to internal (personality) factors rather than situational factors.
    5. Stereotype: a set of beliefs about personal attributes of a group of people.