Brain and Behavior of Men and Women Essay

Since the beginning of time there has been a distinct division between the sexes. Through sheer definition there is a physical difference between the two but as time has passed there has been an indisputable recognition of the differences in personality and cognition. There are also undeniable differences in the life experiences had by the two sexes that

Stephen Jay Gould, a paleontologist and evolutionary scientist, in his essay “Women’s Brains” (1980), argues that previous claims about the intellectual superiority of men over women are based on misinterpreted experimental results and therefore hold no scientific significance.

Gender differences have been recorded by researches from single neurons in the cell to system level processes (Cahill 2006), and certain scientists proposed that sex hormones influence the development of prefrontal cortex, and this is supposed to be the cause of the differences in working memory performance (Duff & Hampson, 2001). This study further investigated the existence and nature of this gender difference. A sample of 497 Monash University psychology undergraduates (385 females and 112 males; ages 18 – 64) were recruited for this study. Working memory performance was tested with online 'spatial working memory ' test, and 2D:4D finger length ratio was used as an indirect measure of sex hormone levels. The results revealed no sex differences in the working memory performance, but variance in 2D:4D ratio – females had a larger ratio than males. Memory reaction time was negatively correlated with 2D:4D ratio, thus, females had a quicker reaction time.

Infants of both genders have the same capacity for proficiency in math, but as they get older, more barriers seem to appear, which separate the results of males and females (Spelke). Women have one major barrier that men do not have: their responsibility to bear children and tend the household. This lead some females to believe that they do not have to excel in math and science fields, or at school in general, because they will one day stay at home and take care of their children and family. While women must focus on both their family and their studies, men can work and study without this pressure (Sternberg). Researchers have identified other differences between males and females, including advanced spatial skills in males and superior verbal skills in females (Spelke). The studies collected, however, do not supply sufficient information on gender differences, and therefore lack enough data to support any findings

In her scientific work Sex Differences in the Brain Kimura analysis several key differences that cause men and women to excel in various tasks and jobs due to naturally occurring phenomenon in the body and

In the book the male brain, the author makes a point that there are many differences between boys and girls ; its all about the brain and hormones that makes the differences. "Hormones can determine what the brain is interested in doing. Their purpose is to help guide social, sexual, mating, parenting, protective and aggressive behaviors (Brizendine)" . Men were born to be different than girls ; ever since a boy is born without the influence and pressure by surrounding, boys can act different than girls naturally. The author of The Make Brain has developed nine topic regarding to the male brain. The nine topic consist of The Boy Brain, The Teen Boy Brain, The Mating Brain, The Brain below the belt, The Daddy Brain,

2581). The questions of if and how gender plays a role in a person's STM capabilities and working memory is one that has been visited and revisited over time, but has generally yielded fairly consistent results: one sex does not dominate the other in terms of which has a more functional STM, rather, men and women maintain their own respective skills regarding different areas of STM ("Sex Differences in Memory"; Loftus et al. 82).

Many believe that gender roles are of a biological nature, something that cannot be escaped. This is drawn from a primitive ideology, the hunter-gatherer mentality. Of course, there is notable biological differences between males and females but are these subtle differences responsible for the variation of behavior between sexes? The hormonal differentiation between sexes can be somewhat influential in terms of behavior such as different levels of estrogen and testosterone. As well as these different hormonal levels, the male and female brain

To understand the differences in memory pertaining to gender, one must first look the physical differences and similarities in the brains of men and women. This can be accomplished by using imaging procedures. These procedures can include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the article Evolving Knowledge of Sex Differences in Brain Structure, Function, and Chemistry (Cosgrove, 2007), the authors state that there are many similarities in the brain structure and function in men and women. The article also lists some important differences as well. One finding is that men have greater brain volume than

Molly Edmonds, a writer for How Stuff Works, has explored the realm of the brains in men and women. She has found that men's brains are actually bigger than those in women. The reasoning for this is not necessarily that men are smarter but that women have a bigger limbic cortex and frontal lobes which control problem solving, decision making, and emotions; hence the reason why women show emotions show much more than men do and are much more decisive. Men however, have bigger parietal lobes which involves space perception and the amygdala, this is responsible for sexual and social behavior (Edmonds 2). Women's brains are also more complexly set up and work faster than men's brains. Women think with white matter, this consists of more connections between the neurons. These neurons are also closely packed together; this explains why women

The differences between men and women are obvious on the external level, but they reach even deeper to the biological level. Physical appearances are the first thing a person notices when seeing an individual; males tend to have square shoulders, straight hips, and a strong pronounced jaw line, whereas females are more inclined to have wide, round hips, breasts, and softer facial features. While some people think that men and women are the same and only society separates them some people suggest that we are wired differently on a more basic level; women are by nature, nurturers because of motherhood and men are fighters because

No one would argue the fact that men and women are physically different. The physical differences are rather obvious and most of these can be seen and measured easily. Men, who are essentially built for physical confrontation and the use of force, usually have greater upper body strength, build muscle easily, have thicker skin, and mostly use the left side of their brain. Women on the other hand, have a higher percentage of body fat, and a wider pelvis. Women also have four times as many brain cells connecting the right and left side of their brain. This provides physical evidence that supports the observation that men rely easily and more heavily on their left brain to solve one problem one step at

Gender differences occur in many aspects of a person’s life whether it is culture, politics, occupation, family and relationships, or the economy (just to name a few). One major difference in gender occurs in learning and education in the elementary and secondary levels. Research has found that males and females learn differently in many aspects of education. First of all, female and male brains are constructed differently affecting the way they learn; this leads to basic differences in learning and also gives an introduction into why the way one learns differs according to gender and how males and females learn subjects and tasks differently. Second, males and females are treated differently, sometimes unconsciously, in educational

Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman also discovered that women perform better than men in tasks requiring little to no verbal processing, such as recognition of familiar odors, and that the female episodic memory advantage increases when women utilize verbal abilities and decreases when visuospatial abilities are required. Environmental factors, such as education, seem to influence the magnitude of these sex differences, as well.

You are born with sexual attributes but gender qualities are developed after birth (Tovey and Share, 2003). The variations between the two sexes are an outcome of culture and society (Giddens, 2001). The best way to prove the difference between the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ is the situation of transsexuals. These people fit biologically into one sex but feel they belong to the other. Through surgery and hormone treatment they try to change their biological sex and by doing this they also have to learn how to act like the sex they have changed to. They also have to take on new masculine/feminine roles (Browne, 2005). One in every two thousand babies is born intersex which is a baby with mixed female and male characteristics.