Deck 3: Bodies

Question 1

What are sex-influenced genes?

A) genes that are only expressed if they occur in a male or a female body.
B) genes whose effect depends on whether they occur in a male or a female body.
C) the chromosomal pairs that differentiate genetic females from genetic males.
D) genes that have been connected with observable sex differences

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following statements describes the relationship between biology and the gender binary?

A) The gender binary expresses the dimorphism of male and female bodies.
B) There are many immutable biological characteristics that support the gender binary.
C) The gender binary emphasizes the difference between rather than similarity of female and male bodies.
D) The gender binary is an expression of the complex biological characteristics of human bodies.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Suppose you analyze standardized test results for a country and discover almost identical distributions of physics scores for female and male students. Which of the following would NOT be an explanation?

A) The standardized testing took place in a relatively gender-equal society.
B) There were no gender differences in the teaching and learning of physics in this country.
C) Physics ability is less likely than math to reflect real biological differences.
D) Physics ability is not defined as gendered in this country.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Testosterone is often believed to be linked to sex differences. Which of the following statements about testosterone is NOT true?

A) Testosterone is linked to visual-spatial ability.
B) Men experience fluctuations in the production of testosterone in their bodies.
C) Women respond to testosterone at lower levels than men do.
D) Testosterone affects sex drive only in men.

Question 5

Which of the following statements regarding men's and women's brains is NOT true?

A) Men are more often "left-brained" than women.
B) Very few differences in men's and women's brains have been linked to behavioral differences.
C) Men's and women's brains feature different ratios of white and grey matter.
D) On average, women's brains are smaller than men's brains.

Question 6

Estrogens and androgens are both types of activational hormones released by glands or cells in the human body. Which of the following statements best describes their relationship to sex differences?

A) Androgens are only found in male bodies, while estrogens are only found in female bodies.
B) Differing hormone levels explain the majority of sex differences in male and female behavior.
C) Testosterone only has observable effects in male bodies.
D) Hormones have been linked to only a few of the differences between males and females.

Question 7

What is meant by the idea that many biological characteristics are mutable?

A) They are responsive to external influences.
B) Biological sex differences evolve over many generations.
C) Biological sex differences have been found to have no scientific basis.
C) The primary biological characteristics that differentiate men and women have changed over time.

Question 8

What is sexual dimorphism?

A) the shared behavioral and physical traits of males and females
B) a sexual preference for the opposite sex
C) the average differences between males and females of a species
D) to identify as the opposite sex

Question 9

On which of the following traits do men and women exhibit the strongest sexual dimorphism?

A) vertical jumping ability
B) sexual identity and sexual object choice
C) throwing ability
D) visual-spatial abilities

Question 10

What do we learn from comparing the degree of sexual dimorphism among humans to that of other species?

A) The human species is not sexually dimorphic.
B) Men and women are far more similar than they are different.
C) Men and women exhibit a moderate degree of sexual dimorphism.
D) The human species is highly sexually dimorphic.

Question 11

Which of the following is a culturalist explanation of gender differences?

A) Culture just exaggerates the real biological differences between men and women.
B) Gender differences are consistent across cultures.
C) Culture interacts with biological processes to produce gender differences.
D) Gender differences are purely the product of learning and socialization.

Question 12

A genetic female has two X chromosomes, whereas a genetic male has both an X chromosome and a Y chromosome. Which of the following statements best describes the effect of chromosomes on sex differences?

A) The Y chromosome is the source of most sex differences.
B) Sex differences are mostly connected to whether a person has one or two X chromosomes.
C) A link between chromosomes and sex differences is yet to be established.
D) Chromosomes have no effect since both men and women have only one functioning X chromosome.

Question 13

Imagine you are conducting a test in which you wish to increase the empathy scores of male participants. Which of the following interventions would you choose?

A) tell participants that the test is one in which men typically perform poorly, so try harder
B) have participants first write a fictional story
C) present statistics showing that women are attracted to empathic men
D) do the experiment in the morning

Question 14

What has brain organization theory established in relation to gender differences?

A) There are no differences between male and female brains.
B) Differences exist between male and female brains, but what these differences have to do with gendered behavior is largely unknown.
C) The differences between male and female brains have been shown to be a fundamental cause of gender inequalities.
D) Hormones are the primary cause of the differences between male and female brains.

Question 15

Which of the following is a naturalist explanation of gender differences?

A) Humans are born as "blank slates" upon which social forces inscribe gender differences.
B) Gender differences are biological and exist independently of external influences.
C) There are no gender differences between men and women in their natural state.
D) Nature and nurture work together to produce gender differences.

Question 16

The gender gap in math performance varies within and across countries. The countries with the smallest difference between their male and female students are those with

A) the lowest rates of poverty.
B) the most successful education systems.
C) the greatest degree of overall gender equality.
D) the most highly developed economies.

Question 17

Researchers have observed differences in the visual-spatial abilities of men and women, such as in performing the task of mental rotation. What is the most plausible cause of such differences?

A) Cognitive skills are best explained by hormone levels. Men have higher levels of testosterone than women.
B) Cognitive skills correspond with the right side of the brain. Men and women tend to use different sides of their brains.
C) Cognitive skills are shaped by evolution. Through gender-specific practices, men's brains have evolved differently than women's.
D) Cognitive skills are affected by instruction and practice. Men are more likely than women to engage in activities that develop the skill of mental rotation.

Question 18

Considering biological causes of gender differences more immutable than social ones is a mistake because

A) our bodies are constantly adapting and responding to our social and physical environment.
B) gender differences have no relationship to biology.
C) the real causes of gender differences are entirely social.
D) there is a need to improve the scientific methods employed to date.

Question 19

In Janet Hyde's analysis of 124 measures of possible differences between men and women, she found that observed gender differences were most often

A) nonexistent.
B) large.
C) medium.
D) small.

Question 20

What is priming?

A) a test for measuring empathy
B) being reminded of a stereotype prior to taking a test
C) the tendency for men to score lower than women in empathy tests
D) writing a test response in the first person

Question 21

Identical twins become genetically different over time. How can this be explained?

A) Upbringing is more important than genes.
B) Their environment and experiences affect how their genes are expressed.
C) Identical twins aren't actually 100 percent genetically identical.
D) It can't, because the statement is false.

Question 22

Giving examples, describe three forms of biology-society interaction that challenge thinking about bodies in a gender binary way.

Question 23

The concept of "real gender differences" can be slippery. Explain why asking whether a difference observed between women and men is "real" is a misleading question and what better questions would look like. What would you argue is a better way to think about sex differences?

Question 24

Researchers have found that men who are active parents have lower levels of testosterone than men who do not participate in parenting. Which of the following claims does this support?

A) Behavior affects the body's production of hormones like testosterone.
B) Men with higher levels of testosterone are less likely to desire to be parents.
C) Women are better suited to parenting because they have lower and less variable levels of testosterone than men.
D) Behaviors as well as preferences are produced by inborn variations in hormone levels.

Question 25

Men typically have stronger and denser bones than women. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Women are more vulnerable than men to osteoporosis.
B) Bone strength is a good example of an immutable sex difference.
C) Hormonal and genetic factors contribute to men's and women's bone health.
D) Bone health is shaped by exercise and diet.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT an example of brain plasticity?

A) The neuroanatomy of teenage girls can change by playing Tetris.
B) The ability of brains to process sight, sound, and touch depends on experience with external stimuli.
C) Blind people can adapt to their sensory deficit by developing other parts of their brains.
D) People who engage in intensive study can experience poor bone health.

Question 27

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the relationship between hormones and gender?

A) Hormones produce gender differences and similarities, and respond to gendered and ungendered social experiences.
B) Women's testosterone levels do not respond to anticipation of competition unless they are very masculine.
C) Men's testosterone levels will respond to driving a sports car, whether they care about the status a sports car carries or not.
D) Hormonal responses have no relationship to gender.

Question 28

What is brain plasticity?

A) the different composition of men's and women's brains
B) the brain's lifelong ability to respond to its environment
C) the inherent strengths and weaknesses of men's and women's brains
D) the importance of environment over hormones in determining brain structure

Question 29

Which of the following statements best describes what is misleading about the nature/nurture debate over sex differences?

A) There is no real evidence that either nature or nurture contribute to sex differences.
B) The debate has failed to include understanding of the gender binary.
C) The debate has too often led to "nature" arguments being favored over "nurture."
D) Nature and nurture can never operate separately to produce a human being.

Question 30

Using an example of an observed sex difference, compare a naturalist and a culturalist explanation of the difference. What are the limitations of each perspective and what would be an alternative explanation?

Question 31

Men's and women's marathon records have become both faster and closer together over time. This provides evidence for which of the following statements?

A) Only social factors determine sex differences.
B) The biology of men's and women's bodies are evolving in different ways.
C) The athletic ability of female bodies has been shaped to a large extent by social context.
D) Marathon records are a measure of the real physical differences between male and female bodies.

Question 32

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between nature (human biology), nurture (socialization), and gender differences?

A) Nature and nurture each shape sex differences in distinct and unrelated ways.
B) Social forces interfere with the expression of natural differences between men and women.
C) Nature and nurture are inseparable: they work together to produce observed sex differences.
D) Socialization shapes the human brain but not human biology.

Question 33

What are hormonal feedback loops?

A) ways to shift hormone levels with medicine
B) the occurrence of both androgens and estrogens in men and women
C) the body's hormonal response to stimuli
D) the different parenting abilities of men and women

Question 34

Not all men have the same degree of muscularity. Which of the following explanations best describes why this is the case?

A) Some men have higher levels of testosterone than others.
B) Men's testosterone levels vary over time and across cultures.
C) Some men are more committed to exercise than others.
D) Men vary in the number of muscle fibers they are born with, the activities in which they engage, and their hormonal response to exercise.

Question 35

What is gene-environment interaction?

A) the differences between men's and women's genotype
B) the influence of environmental factors on our gene expression
C) the relationship between genotype and phenotype
D) the effect of the human genome on the environment

Question 36

Explain the concept of mutability and how it applies to thinking about both biological and social sources of physical differences between men and women.

Question 37

Describe the nature/nurture debate regarding sex differences and give two reasons for why the debate is missing the point.