AQA Psychology- Unit 3

1. What did McConaghy find?

That the ages Kohlberg proposed are incorrect
2 years olds were 70% correct in identifying gender compared to 90% of 3 year olds, showing improvement with age
Children under 5 identified a doll as a girl depite it having genitals on show
Only at 3-4 do children realise gender is constant over time and those who answered correctly showed greatest interest in same sex models

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Mental illness and trauma lead to gender confusion as a way of coping
Males had SDN 2 x bigger than females. MtF transsexuals have a SDN the size of females
112 MtF transsexuals had a longer version of the androgen receptor leading to reduced testosterone
Overly close relations between mother- son leads to gender confusion

Repetition of Buss' study to find again that gender is innate
37 cultures, showing similarities in mate preferences, suggesting that gender is innate
2800 students, 30 countries, asked to say whether each of 300 adjectives were female or male sterotypes, and consistency was found across all countries
Cultural differences: Differences in agression found between the Arapesh, Mundugumor and Tchumbuli tribes

The size of the SDN is 2x larger in males than females and in MtF transsexuals had the SDN size of a woman
14 (XY) males with cloacal extrophy were assigned females at birth but despite this, all were mascualine and 8/14 reversed to male
Testosterone was injected into rats and the girl babies born were both physically and mentally mascualine
A case study of a boy who has his penis burn't off and was converted into a female, however he later returned to male

Neanderthal's skeletons were analysed and it was found they showed no division of labour which is why they died out
10,000 ppts, 37 cultures, found mate choice was consistent across cultures
Men had higher cortisol levels during times of stress compared to women, potentially due to them not tending and befriending as much as women
Lonley hearts ads were analysed and it was found that mate choice was consistent across cultures