Psychology Chapter on Gender and Development

Chapter 1 - Introduction

• Psychology of women: Why study it? Establishes basic definitions and research practices.
• Define gender and sex: Distinguish between the widely held definitions (not textbook definitions) and the differences between them.
• Quantitative vs. qualitative analysis: Describe differences in research methodologies.
• Define sexism: Types of sexism (modern, hostile, benevolent).
• Hypothesis vs. theory: Explain the distinction.
• Research designs: Describe five basic research designs (naturalistic observation, archival analysis, surveys, experiments, quasi-experiments).
• Quasi-experiments and sex differences: Explain why experiments investigating sex differences are called quasi-experiments.
• Experimental design: Steps in designing experiments and the self-correcting nature of the empirical process.
• Biases in research design: Ways biases can be introduced at different stages of the research process.
• Female deficit interpretation: Definition.
• Experimenter and observer effects: Definitions.
• Overgeneralization: Its definition and danger in research.
• Publication bias (file-drawer problem): How it negatively impacts perceptions of sex differences.
• Phallocentric: Definition.
• Male as normative: Explain the concept and provide examples.
• Feminine evil: Explain and give examples from history.
• Feminism: Definition.
• Cisgender and genderism: Definitions.

Chapter 2 - Theoretical Perspectives on Gender

• Major psychological theories: Explores theories explaining thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of girls and women.
• Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Psychosexual development stages (id, ego, superego, libido, erogenous zones), the Phallic stage, and critiques of the theory.
• Neo-Freudians: Contributions of Karen Horney, Helen Deutsch, and Anna Freud and Nancy Chodorow.
• Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology: Darwin’s theory, parental investment theory, sexual selection theory, and sexual strategies theory (and critiques).
• Sociocultural Theory: Alice Eagly's research on dating strategies and the role of social learning in gender development.
• Social Learning Theory: its key components (and the difference between Social and Cognitive Social Learning Theories).
• Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development: Description and paradigm used to test the theory (Heinz paradigm), gender identity and constancy, and the concept of justice vs. care perspectives.
• Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development including the care perspective and the justice perspective. Differences between males and females in perspective.
• Gender Schema Theory: Its key components.
• Consciousness Raising Groups (C-R Groups): Explanation of their role in the 1970s.
• Intersectionality: Definition.
• Social constructionism: Definition.
• Person is political: Definition of the phrase and its relevance to women's issues.
• Types of feminism: Liberal, cultural, Marxist/socialist, radical, women of color, postmodern feminism, and their specific characteristics.
• Waves of feminism: A description of the historical waves, accomplishments, and remaining unfinished aspects (ERA).
• Queer theory: Definition.

Chapter 3 - Gender Stereotypes and Gender Differences

• Stereotypes and schemas: Description of schemas, stereotypes, and their relation, and why they are used.
• Communal vs. agentic: Definitions in relation to gender.
• Implicit biases: Measurement methods (IAT) and impact on egalitarian beliefs and performance.
• Traditionally female vs. male characteristics and behaviors: Major differences.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy and its effect on gendered thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Social construction of gender: Explanation.
• Media influence on gender development in males and females.
• Sex differences in aggression (physical, verbal, relational): Effect sizes.
• Self-esteem, activity levels, anxiety, helping behaviors, empathy, narcissism: Sex differences (and effect sizes if noted).
• Deindividuation: Research findings, exploring the nature vs. nurture debate.
• Male-female sex-role identity: (Unidimensional and two-dimensional).
• Androgyny: Benefits/detriments.
• Gender expectations: Why society is harder on men violating these expectations (Social Status Hypothesis and Sexual Orientation Hypothesis.
• Meta-analysis: Definition and interpretation (Cohen's d).
• Availability and representativeness heuristics: How they relate to schemas and affect perceptions of genders.

Chapter 4 - The Intersection of Gender and Ethnicity

• Terminology for women of color (e.g., Hispanics, Chicanas, Latinos, Latinas, African Americans, Asian Americans, Euro-Americans).
• Race vs. ethnicity: Distinction.
• Cross-cultural research issues.
• Conceptual and translational equivalence.
• Subcultural variations and cultural heritage.
• Deficit interpretation
• Race and social class.
• Affirmative action: Costs and benefits.
• Core Asian values.
• Unique challenges faced by specific ethnic groups of women (e.g., African American women, American Indian women, Asian American women, Latinas).

Chapter 5 - Gender and Communication

• Different Cultures Hypothesis (Deborah Tannen): Description of the hypothesis.
• Communication goals for men and women: Gender differences.
• Gender-linked language effect (Mulac, 2006): Definition.
• Language use and sex differences (effect sizes if mentioned): Tentative speech, tag questions, disclaimers, hedges, intensifiers.
• Context's role in moderating gender differences in language use.
• Interrupting: Sex differences and types of interruptions.
• Talkativeness: Sex differences.
• Nonverbal communication: Eye contact, smiling, personal space, and dominance ratio.
• Implicit Biases: Measurement and impact.
• Female-as-exception phenomenon
• Euphemisms, infantilizing, Parallel words: Definitions and examples.
• Whorfian hypothesis: Explanation.
• Genderless language and differences between cultures.
• Linguistic bias against trans individuals: Evidence of language use toward trans individuals.