Discuss the biological biasing effect and how it is used to explain different thinking abilities in women and men, and discuss the evidence that contradicts this theory

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that the biological biasing effect is the hypothesized effect that prenatal exposure to sex hormones has on development of the body, nervous system, and later behavior patterns. Some researchers believe that the biological biasing effect imparts different thinking abilities in women and men. Women, they say are more often "left brained" and men "right brained." The left brain is largely responsible for language and rote learning, while the right brain is superior at spatial reasoning. Thus, some psychologists think that biological differences explain why men (as a group) do slightly better on spatial tasks and math and why women are slightly better at language skills. Others, however, strongly reject this theory. To them, such claims are based on shaky evidence and sexist thinking. The most telling evidence on this point may be that female and male scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) are rapidly becoming more alike. The same applies to tests of math ability. The narrowing gap is probably explained by a growing similarity in male and female interests, experiences, and educational goals. Note also that the differences that do exist between women and men are based on averages. Individually, many women are better at math than most men are. Likewise, individually, many men are better at verbal skills than most women are. Scores for women and men overlap so much that is impossible to predict if any one person will be good or bad at math or language skills simply from knowing his or her sex. Most male-female performance gaps can be traced to social differences in the power and opportunities given to men and women. Unequal power tends to exaggerate differences between men and women and then makes these artificial differences appear real.