Deck 6: Gender Differences in Play

Question 1

Gender differences in fantasy play have been found in

A) roles, but not themes or props.
B) roles and themes, but not props.
C) roles and props, but not themes.
D) themes and props only.
E) roles, themes, and props.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

An average one-year child will have approximately ______ toys in his or her collection.

A) 75
B) 10
C) 25
D) 50
E) 100

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The recognition that gender will remain the same regardless of surface changes in physical appearance is known as gender

A) stability.
B) consistency.
C) identity.
D) stereotypy.
E) discrimination.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Research on the content of children's bedrooms indicates that

A) boys have a larger number of toys than girls do.
B) girls have more toys than boys do.
C) girls have a larger variety of toys.
D) boys have more "educationally-oriented" toys.
E) girls have more toy animals and animal furnishings.

Question 5

Which is not true of the difference between games-with-rules played by boys and those played by girls?

A) Girls play games with simpler rule structures.
B) Boys' games are more competitive than those of girls.
C) Girls' games require a greater amount of skill than boys' games do.
D) Boys are more likely to play games that have teams with specialized roles.
E) The games of boys are longer-lasting.

Question 6

Toys designed specifically for girls are likely to

A) require construction.
B) involve the manipulation of objects and patterns.
C) focus on movement through space.
D) facilitate verbal interaction.
E) discourage creativity.

Question 7

Research findings suggest that an adult who is shown a baby girl but told it is a boy will

A) know immediately that it is really a girl.
B) believe it is a boy but play with it as if it were a girl.
C) play with it as if it were a boy.
D) believe it is a boy but think that its behavior is somewhat feminine.

Question 8

Rough-and-tumble play differs from _________ in the degree of seriousness displayed by the participants.

A) fantasy play
B) aggression
C) vigorous activity play
D) sensorimotor play
E) games-with-rules

Question 9

Cross-cultural research on gender differences in children's toys indicates that

A) the difference is found only in the United States.
B) boys in most cultures enjoy playing with baby dolls and mother dolls.
C) girls' toys differ from culture to culture but boy toys are the same throughout the world.
D) the differences are found only in those cultures that have very traditional gender roles.
E) the toys of Swedish children are just as gender-typed as the toys of American children.

Question 10

If a boy toddler is playing with a "girl toy", it is likely that he will be _________ by his mother and _________ by his father.

A) encouraged, discouraged
B) encouraged, encouraged
C) discouraged, ridiculed
D) ignored, discouraged
E) discouraged, ignored

Question 11

How do the contents of boys' and girls' rooms today compare with what was found in the rooms of children twenty years ago?

A) Boys today have more "girl" toys than in earlier years
B) Girls have more "boy" toys now than they once did
C) Children of both sexes have fewer toys today than they did twenty years ago.
D) The gender differences in the contents of children's rooms are about the same as they were twenty years ago.
E) Both a and b are true

Question 12

Which is true of the toys children request from their parents?

A) Most toys requested by children are gender-typed rather than gender-neutral.
B) Most of the toys boys want are gender-typed but girls usually ask for gender-neutral toys.
C) Girls are sensitive to the gender-typing of toys at a younger age than boys are.
D) It seems to be parents and not children themselves who encourage play with gender-typed toys.
E) Children do not distinguish between "boy toys" and "girl toys" until at least the age of five.

Question 13

Which type of fantasy play role is a girl more likely than a boy to assume?

A) a domestic role
B) an opposite sex role
C) a family role
D) a real rather than fictitious role
E) all of the above

Question 14

Girls with congential adrenal hyperplasia, when compared to girls who do not experience this condition

A) are more likely to play with mother and baby dolls.
B) are more likely to play with blocks and toy trucks.
C) avoid rough and tumble play of any sort.
D) show no interest in play at all.
E) are unable to engage in make believe play.

Question 15

What happens when children are given toys to play with that are usually played with by members of the opposite sex?

A) They will refuse to play with them.
B) They will play with them, but not in the ways that children of the opposite sex do.
C) They play with them in exactly the same way as do children of the opposite sex.
D) Girls will play with them, but boys will refuse.
E) They usually don't even notice that the toys are "gender-inappropriate".

Question 16

Psychologists who study moral development suggest that males are more likely than females to base moral decisions on

A) the social context.
B) the feelings of the people involved.
C) interpersonal relationships.
D) irrelevant variables.
E) abstract moral principles.

Question 17

Gender stability is

A) recognition that males and females are different on the basis of their physical characteristics.
B) realization that gender will always remain the same and that boys and girls will grow up to become either men or women.
C) realization that gender always remains the same regardless of surface physical changes in appearance.
D) feeling secure in your gender and determining that you would never want to be a member of the other gender.
E) believing that gender can change depending on such surface characteristics as style of dress or hairstyle.

Question 18

Unlike vigorous activity play, rough-and-tumble play is always __________ and always contains elements of __________.

A) spontaneous, pretense
B) solitary, pretense
C) social, aggression
D) serious, aggression
E) spontaneous, aggression

Question 19

The earliest age at which children have been found to prefer gender appropriate toys is

A) ten months.
B) eighteen months.
C) two years.
D) two-and-a-half years.
E) three years.

Question 20

Children only gradually develop an awareness of gender, and they engage in gender-appropriate activities because these are consistent with their emerging gender concept. This is a basic premise of _________ theory.

A) learning
B) reinforcement
C) cognitive-developmental
D) psychoanalytic
E) social learning

Question 21

In the United States, boys engage in more rough and tumble play than girls do, but this difference is not found in other cultures.

Question 22

Rough-and-tumble play is always _______, and always contains components of __________.

Question 23

There is no limit placed on the amount of time on children's television that is available to advertisers in the United States.

Question 24

Gender _________ is the recognition that males and females are different on the basis of their physical characteristics.

Question 25

Girls in American society usually have a larger number of toys than boys do, but boys have a larger variety.

Question 26

Boys at nine months of age spend more time looking at traditional boys' toys than at those judged appropriate for girls.

Question 27

Children show a preference for gender-typed toys even before they have acquired a concept of gender.

Question 28

In one study it was found that one in every four young children was unable to tell the difference between television cartoons and ____________.

Question 29

Girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia are more active, more aggressive, and more interested in rough and tumble play than their sisters and cousins who do not have CAH.

Question 30

Children who watch the greatest amount of television are likely to have the most gender-stereotyped toy preferences.

Question 31

Boys with the strongest preference for masculine-stereotyped toys demonstrate superior performance on tasks requiring spa?tial skills and score higher on _________ and _________ achievement tests.

Question 32

Commercials designed to appeal to boys are louder than those that target girls, and more likely to depict scenes of _________.

Question 33

In fantasy play, girls are more willing than boys to play ___________ roles.

Question 34

Girls tend to play in large groups, while boys are more likely to play with just one or two friends.

Question 35

After extensive analysis of the marble games of elementary school children, Piaget observed that games played by girls had fewer _______ than games played by boys.

Question 36

The games of boys seem to require a greater amount of skill than do the games of girls.

Question 37

The ___________ theory of gender development states that sex hormones affect the sexual differentiation of the brain during critical periods of development.

Question 38

While aggression in male toddlers is likely to draw a reaction from an adult, adults are most likely to _______ aggression in female toddlers.

Question 39

Most children have acquired a preference for gender-typed toys at some time between the ages of ______ and __________.

Question 40

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia results from an excessive production of female sex hormone during prenatal development.

Question 41

Describe the three major theoretical explanations of how gender typing is acquired?

Question 42

Discuss the research evidence in support of the belief that cultural factors are responsible for gender differences in toy preference.

Question 43

Describe as completely as possible the gender differences in fantasy play that have been observed in terms of the (a) props, (b), roles, and (c) themes that children use. What do these differences suggest about the messages that society may convey to children about their future roles in life?

Question 44

In speaking to a parent group about the need to avoid gender stereotyping when buying toys for children, you are interrupted by someone in the audience who says, "It isn't parents who encourage stereotyping. We simply give them the toys they ask for". Is there research evidence to suggest that this parent may have a good point? Discuss the evidence.

Question 45

Describe the subtle, and not-so-subtle, ways in which toy manufacturers suggest in their advertising that a particular toy is intended for children of one sex rather than the other.

Question 46

Relying on relevant research findings for your answer, present a persuasive argument either that gender differences in rough-and-tumble play are learned or that such differences can be attributed to biological predispositions.