Gendered Memory: Innate or Learned?

ISBN-13: 9783838348988 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 116 str.

Isabelle Cherney

Opis

Evolutionary theory posits that contemporary gender differences originated in the successful adaptation to the different demands faced by men and women over time. The sexual division of labor in hunter-gather societies may have led to the evolution of sex differences in spatial and memory abilities, with males developing an affinity for tracking moving targets and females developing superior skills for remembering static objects. On the other hand, gender schema theory argues that because males and females are exposed to different socialization processes, they develop schemata consistent with their own gender that influence their behaviors, traits, and memories. This work tested childrens and adults incidental and intentional memory for static and dynamic pictures. It juxtaposes two important theories to examine the origins of cognitive gender differences. This analysis should be useful for scientists and educators interested in the possible factors affecting different types of memory for gender-stereotyped information in children and adult.

O autorze

Isabelle D. Cherney earned her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Honors Program at Creighton University (USA). She was named Nebraska Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation in 2007. Her research focuses on the development of cognitive gender differences.