by Anton Bekerman on October 29th, 2003
I watched something about this on Discovery Channel, Science Of The Sexes, it details this exact subject. And yes you are correct. IT is how the brains are developed during childhood, and how they developed in our ancestors. While the men went out to hunt(depth perception/muscle growth and so on) the women say at home and developed language skills and other features.
by Saltlick on September 20th, 2007
There will be consistent minor differences between the genders and other groups but this is really only true of their averages while the individuals may vary around.
by lunatik on December 3rd, 2003
The old breed vs environment issue is back.
Society has a BIG role in the way it acts toward girls and boys. By the time they are men and women, no one notices.
I do think that boys are encouraged to do "manly" things while girls are encouraged to do womanly tasks. I do think that through the generations women have been better at discussing and talking about problems while men are more prone to get forgiveness than permission.
There is a genetic disposition that is compounded by social environment.
by dirtlover on September 21st, 2003
Not really. The brain devlopment of males and female are close in comparison.
Males tend to have a better grasp on 3D and spatial perception just because they grow up doing more sports and activites that involve that side of the brain. Women discern emotions and multitasking better because they are brought up to do so. The truth is that we are born the same and it's how we are brought up that makes a differents. (unless there are some genentic problems like A.D.D and so on)
by Noi Wszolek on March 4th, 2005
A very nice article was published in Time magazine, March 7, 2005 entitled "The Gender Gap" on this and other similar concepts, but for purposes of this website, I'll attempt to summarize.
It is undeniable that there is a gender gap in the scientific community. Women make up a mere 23% of employed doctoral scientists, and even then, a large percentage of those women are involved in the health sciences or psychology, not what are generally considered the "hard" sciences.
What studies have shown is that it depends on what age you are testing, and that results can change within the same person based on when you are testing them.
Specifically concerning spatial perception, boys have performed better than females in many tests, but this may not be related to differences in the brain. As a study published in the journal "Behavioral Neuroscience" shows, young male monkeys performed better then female, but by old age, both genders performed equally well.
The difference in test results may also be accredited to a difference in thr structure of sensory organs. In rats, the male retina has more cells to detect motion, while the female's retina has more cells built to gather information on color and texture. If this is true for humans as well, it may explain the gap in test results, at least partly. On the other hand, it might mean something entirely different.
The article suggested perhaps sex segregated schooling may not be a bad idea after all, if girls and boys do indeed learn different subjects at different rates.
However, I'd like to clarify while there are many theories, no one really knows exactly why there are more men than women in sciences. The technology to accurately map the brain has only recently become available, and the information available now is inconclusive. Though difficult to tell upon sight, the scanning of male and female brains have shown that they seem to work quite differently, and even have a different structure.
Women appear to have more connections between the two brain hemispheres and a stronger connection between the amygdala and the regions of the brain that handle language. This couls possibly account for the observation that women seem to be better at handling emotions. But then again, maybe not.
I hope this has been of some help. The question being asked is an incredibly complex one that has been asked for centuries, with much personal bias on either side of the argument.
by Anonymous on September 21st, 2007
Yes, it is true. Some people really do say this.
by Jtigger on October 15th, 2007
Sounds about right.
Why is it when your 6, they call it an imaginary friend; but when your 26 they call you a schizophrenic?
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Passed out and had a seizure after getting a brain freeze. andone know what could cause this?
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Is there any difference between being "braindead" and "brainwashed"?
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Are brain games good for older people or just a waste of time?
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Comments
I saw the same show on Discovery Channel :-)
by HungryGuy on August 14th, 2004
I saw the same show.
by Psyche the Psychic on February 16th, 2005
I am dismayed to hear that the men/hunt women/gather explanation is still perpetuated in this modern age.
by Noi Wszolek on March 4th, 2005
Language skills and "other" features were developed by children of both genders.
by BoundSyco on May 20th, 2005