Prof. Melissa Hines

Room CM 442, telephone ext. 8153

Office Hours: Monday 12:00 –13:00, or by appointment.

Guest lecturer: Fiona MacCallum, Available by appointment

Hines, M. Brain gender. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Golombok, S. Parenting: What really counts? Routledge, 2000.

Golombok, S. and Fivush, R. Gender development. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

In addition, there are some required readings that are journal articles, and some recommended/background books and journal articles. Specific readings for each lecture (or set of lectures) are listed below in "Structure of the course". The required reading should be viewed as the minimum. It probably would be impossible to complete all of the additional reading. More readings than can be used by any one student are offered so that each student can focus on his of her own particular interests. You are encouraged, however, to do as much additional reading as is reasonably possible. You also do not have to limit your reading to this list. You may find that some of the selections listed below refer to other books or articles that you also would like to look at.

Week 1: Sex differences and sexual differentiation: How do human males and females differ psychologically and how large and reliable are the differences? How genetic factors and gonadal hormones (e.g., androgens, such as testosterone, and estrogens, such as estradiol) influence physical development as male, female, or intersex.

Required reading:

Brain gender, chapters 1 and 2.

Maccoby, E.E. and Jacklin, C.N. (1974) The Psychology of Sex Differences, Vol. 1, text, chapter 10, pp. 349-374.

Additional reading (Choose areas where you want to dig deeper. Titles provide hints as to content):

Voyer, D., Voyer, S. and Bryden, M.P. (1995) Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities; A meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin 117, 250-270.

Hyde, J.S. and Lynn, M.C. (1988) Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 104, 53-69.

Hyde, J.S., Fennema, E. and Lamon, S.J. (Hyde et al., 1990) Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 107, 139-155.

Wilson, J.D., George, F.W., and Griffin, J.E. (1981) The hormonal control of sexual development. Science 211, 1278-1284.

Hyde, J.S. (1984) How large are gender differences in aggression? A developmental meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology 20, 722-736.

Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000) Sexing the body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality. Basic Books. (Book)

Week 2 and 3: Hormonal influences on brain development and behavior, beginning prenatally, in mammals, including humans.

Required reading:

Brain gender, chapters 3-9.

Additional reading:

Goy, R.W., Bercovitch, F.B., and McBrair, M.C. (1988) Behavioral masculinization is independent of genital masculinization in prenatally androgenized female rhesus macaques. Hormones and Behavior 22, 552-571.

Meisel, R.L. and Ward, I.L. (1981) Fetal female rats are masculinized by littermates located caudally in the uterus. Science 213, 239-242.

De Vries, G.J. and Simerly, R.B. (2002) Anatomy, development, and function of sexually dimorphic neural circuits in the mammalian brain. In D.W. Pfaff, et al., (eds.) Hormones, brain and behavior, Vol. 4, (pp. 137-191). San Diego, Academic Press.

Tanapat, P., Hastings, N.B., and Gould, E. (2002) Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain. In D.W. Pfaff, et al., (eds.) Hormones, brain and behavior, Vol. 4, (pp.779-798). San Diego, Academic Press.

Diamond, M. and Sigmundson, H.K. (1997) Sex reassignment at birth: Long-term review and clinical implications. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 151, 298-304.

Bradley, S.J., Oliver, G.S., Chernick, A.B., and Zucker, K.J. (1998) Experiment of nurture: Ablatio penis at 2 months, sex reassignment at 7 months, and a psychosexual follow-up in young adulthood. Pediatrics 102, 1-5.

Minto, C.L., Liao, L-M., Woodhouse, C.R.J., Ransley, P., and Creighton, S.M. (2003) The effect of clitoral surgery on sexual outcome in individuals who have intersex conditions with ambiguous genitalia: a cross-sectional study. The Lancet 361, 1252-1257.

Alexander, G.M. and Hines, M. (2002) Sex differences in responses to children’s toys in nonhuman primates (cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus). Evolution and Human Behavior 23, 467-479.

Hines, M., Fane, B.A., Pasterski, V.L., Mathews, G.A., Conway, G.S. & Brook, C. (2003) Spatial abilities following prenatal androgen abnormality: Targeting and mental rotations performance in individuals with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. Psychoneuroendocrinology 28: 1010-1026.

Epting, L.K. and Overman, W.H. (1998) Sex-sensitive tasks in men and women: A search for performance fluctuations across the menstrual cycle. Behavioral Neuroscience 112, 1304-1317.

Liben, L.S., Susman, E.J., Finkelstein, J.W., Chincilli, V.M., Kunselman, S. et al. (2002) The effects of sex steroids on spatial performance: A review and an experimental clinical invesstigation. Developmental Psychology 38, 236-253.

Shumaker,S.A., Legault, C., Rapp, S.R., Thal, L., Wallace, R..B. et al. (2003) Estrogen plus progestin and the incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women. Journal of the American Medical Association 289, 2651-2662.

Week 4: Social and cultural influences on the development of gender-related behaviors (visiting lecturer, Fiona MacCallum).

Required reading:

Golombok, S. and Fivush, R. (1994) Gender development. Cambridge University Press, chapters 5-10.

Maccoby, E.E. (1988) Gender as a social category. Developmental Psychology 24, 755-765.

Additional Reading:

Gender development, remaining chapters.

Martin, C.L., Ruble, D.N., and Szkrybalo, J. (2002) Cognitive theories of early gender development. Psychological Bulletin 128, 903-933.

Bussey, K. and Bandura, A. (1999) Social-cognitive theories of gender development and differentiation. Psychological Review 106, 676-713.

Golombok, S. and Hines, M. (2002) Sex differences in social behavior. In Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development (P. K. Smith & C.H. Hart, eds.) Blackwell Publishers.

Martin, C.L., Ruble, D.N., and Szkrybalo, J. (2002) Cognitive theories of early gender development. Psychological Bulletin 128, 903-933.

Required reading:

Golombok, S. Parenting: What really counts? Routledge.

Golombok, S. & MacCallum, F. (2003) Outcomes for parents and children following non-traditional conception: what do clinicians need to know? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44 (3), 1-13).

Weeks 6 and 7: Sex differences in the human brain and genetic and neural correlates of sexual orientation

Required reading:

Brain gender, chapter 10.

Bailey, J.M., Dunne, M.P., Martin, N.G. (2000) Genetic and environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78, 524-536.

Additional reading:

Byne, W., Tobet, S.A., Mattiace, L.A., Lasco, M.S., Kemether, E., Edgar, M.A. et al. (2001) The interstitial nuclei of the human anterior hypothalamus: An investigation of variation with sex, sexual orientation, and HIV status. Hormones and Behavior 40, 86-92.

Collaer, M.L., Tory, H.O., and Valkenburgh, M.C. (2004, in press) Do sex steroid hormones contribute to sexual differentiation of the human brain? In Principles of gender-specific medicine. M.J. Legato (ed.) New York: Academic Press.

Zhou, J-N., Hofman, M.A., Gooren, L.J.G., and Swaab, D.F. (1995) A sex difference in the human brain and its relation too transsexuality. Nature 378, 68-70.

Chung, W.C.J., De Vries, G.J. and Swaab, D.F. (2002) Sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in humans may extend into adulthood. The Journal of Neuroscience 22, 1027-1033.

Week 8: Summary and integration

Required reading:

Brain gender, chapter 11.

Additional reading:

Jacobs, J.E. and Eccles, J.S. (1985) Gender differences in math ability: The impact of media reports on parents. Educational Research 14, 20-25.

Tiedemann, J. (2000) Parents’ gender stereotypes and teachers’ beliefs as predictors of children’s concept of their mathematical ability in elementary school. Journal of Educational Psychology 92, 144-151.

Frome, P. and Eccles, J.S. (1998) Parental effects on adolescents’ academic self-perceptions and interests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74, 435-442.

Spencer, S.J., Steele, C.M. and Quinn, D.M. (1999) Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 35, 4-28.

Correll, S.J. (2001) Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self-assessments. American Journal of Sociology 106, 1691-1730.

Weeks 9-10: Student presentations and discussions. (Choose one of the eight topics listed to present).

Is sexual orientation inborn? What causes girls and boys to choose different toys? Is estrogen useful in preventing dementia? Should infants with intersex conditions be treated with surgery to alter their external genitalia? Is it inevitable that certain occupations (e.g., science and engineering) will be dominated by men, whereas others (e.g., childcare, teaching) will be dominated by women? What causes gender identity disorder? Does androgen contribute to aggression? Are women better parents than men?

Course work: A 2,500 -3,000 word (maximum) essay on one of the topics for the student presentations, due Tuesday, March 30th. Make sure that your written work is clearly marked with your name, the lecturer’s name and the essay title. Coursework must be handed in on or before the deadline. Late work will be penalised according to the mark deduction scheme outlined in the coursework charter.

Examination: There is one two-hour exam. You must answer two questions, from a selection of six.

Final mark: The final mark will be based on coursework (20%) and the exam (80%). 40% is needed to pass the course.