Gender Test Example answers

Exam Practice – The sign test A researcher carried out a repeated measures design experiment to see if a sample of 20 school children improved their reading with a new reading strategy. The children were given a reading score out of twenty before and after two week intensive training using the new strategy. The results showed that 10 children improved their reading score. 1 child had lower reading score. 9 children stayed the same. Conduct a sign test on this data and check to see if the results are significant using the table

N .10 .05 .025 .01 4 5 6 7 1 8 9 2 10 11 12 3 To be significant the calculated (observed value) should be equal to or less than the tabled (critical value). Based on these results what can the researchers conclude about the reading stratgegy

1 and 2 1, Possessing high levels of masculine and feminine traits. 2a, One difference is the chromosomal make up. Males with typical sex chromosome patterns are XY but males with Klinefelter’s are XXY. One difference is that Males with Klinefelter’s are shy and find social situations difficult compared to males with normal chromosomal patterns. 2b, By studying individuals with Klinefelter’s researchers can make inferences about the influence of nature and nurture on gender development. Klineflter’s individuals can be compared with typical males to see if the presence of an extra X chromosome influences gender development.

3 identify and explain one limitation of the biological approach to gender development (2) It is a reductionist view. This is because it simplifies gender down to the sex chromosomes XX and XY. It suggests these chromosomes determine the gender of the individual when in fact they determine the sex. There are other factors that influence gender such as culture and media and parenting and these cannot be ignored when looking at gender development.

4. A. In the study 6 year old boys showed excellent recall of a man watching TV and mowing the lawn. However, their recall of a man ironing was only 23 out of fifty which was much around half as many. Gender schema theory suggests children develop a schema (mental representation) about what males and females do based on experience. The gender schema relates to gender specific behaviours and helps them to make sense of gender roles. They develop an ingroup (their own sex) and an outgroup (the opposite sex). Young children tend to focus on their ingroups behaviours and incorporate information which fits their expectations into the schema. However, if they see their ingroup acting in a way they do not expect they simply ignore or forget what they saw. The man ironing did not fit with the schema of male behaviour for many of the boys and so was forgotton.

4b – What is meant by opportunity sampling This is when the researchers use available people to be part of their study.

4c A unstructured interview is where there are no set questions but any questions come from the answers given by the participants. So this method allows the interviewer to respond individually to the answers given by the children. This might the lead the interviewer to explore an area that they had not previously thought about before the interview. As these are young children, this method allows the children to talk freely and not be concerned with answering specific questions. Children may misinterpret questions or feel pressured into giving the ‘correct’ answer if a structured interview was given. Therefore, unstructured may give more accuracy and a true representation of the child’s thoughts.

5 At the stability stage the child understands that gender is fixed over time but if a person changes their appearance such as a boy wears a dress, their gender changes. In the constancy change the child believes not only is gender fixed over time but also across situations. Therefore they understand that gender does not change because of a change in outward appearance.

6 Children may have limited communication skills and find it difficult to understand questions and also may not be able to fully express their answers. This means the results of the study may not truly show the knowledge of the child and their understanding of gender. This means the study is lacking validity as it is not measuring what it intends to measure.

8 One limitation is that research has found that children may display behaviours that are not consistent with their biological sex but this is not consistent into adulthood.. This was seen in Green (1997) who studied 44 boys referred during childhood to a clinic for strong feminine behaviours. They were compared to a control group of age matched boys. A follow up study when they were aged 18 found that only one of the 44 boys had remained gender dysphoric and opted for gender reassignment surgery. If this condition was biological you would expect a continuity between childhood and adulthood. A further limitation is that it is a reductionist approach. This is because GID is a complex behavior that is likely to involves a number of factors. Giving it a biological explanation is simplifying the behavior and a consequence of this is that it does not consider other contributory factors such as reinforcement and difficulties during the psychosexual stages of development. This simplistic view may limit the understanding of the disorder and the way it should be treated.

9 Ross is showing he has identified with his father and internalised his fathers morality. This process occurs with the resolution of the Oedipus complex which takes place during the phallic stage of development according to Freud. A male child fears their father and develops castration anxiety. Because of this they identify with their father and internalise their beliefs which leads to the development of the superego.

10 When an adult displays a certain behaviour they provide an opportunity for a child to imitate them. This is known as modelling. In the article, a female child may watch their mothers applying make up so the mother is modelling this behaviour. The female child is then likely to imitate the behaviour of this same sex role model. 11 A child may only imitate the behaviour of a same sex role model. Therefore if a female child observes their father fixing a shelf she may not imitate this behaviour as she does not identify with being male. She may think of the behaviour as a job for a man.