BG19630

19630 __Brain Gender Assessment Response__ Part 1: Test from Marcia Collaer, adapted from Benton AL, Sivan AB, Hamsher K, Varney NR and Spreen O 1994. Contributions to neuropsychological assessment: A clinical manual. 2nd edition (New York:Oxford)

Part 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/results.shtml Angels- Your score: 15 out of 20 Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20 Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20
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Spot the Difference- Your score: 50% Average score for men: 39% Average score for women: 46%

Hands- Left thumb on top: This suggests the right half of your brain is dominant. Some studies theories that as a right brain dominant person, you may excel in visual, spatial and intuitive processes. However, these theories are debatable and leave much to be said about the small percentage of people who are ambidextrous. Emotions and Systems- Empathizing
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Your empathy score is: 8 out of 20 Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20 Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20

What does your result suggest? Empathizers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathizing.

Systemizing- Your systemizing score is: 1 out of 20 Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20 Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20 What does your result suggest?

Systemizes prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analyzing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemizing. Scientists are keen to learn more about people who score high or low on both tests. They want to find out whether or not empathizing and systemizing are linked. Is a possible to make yourself more empathic? Eyes- Your score: 5 out of 10 Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10 Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10 What does your result suggest?

If you scored 0 - 3: Do you think you're good at judging how another person is feeling? Your score suggests this doesn't come to you quite so naturally. If you scored 4 - 6: Your result suggests you have a balanced female-male brain and find it neither easy nor difficult to judge people's emotions. If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathizer, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category.

Fingers- Right Hand: 1.15 Left Hand: 1.09
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Average ratio for men: 0.982 Average ratio for women: 0.991 Its thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same. Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length. Studies have found that men and women with lots of brothers generally have more masculine finger ratios

Faces- Your choices suggest you prefer more masculine faces. Highly masculinized male faces possess more extreme testosterone markers such as a long, broad and lower jaw, as well as more pronounced brow ridges and cheekbones. Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, when conception is most likely. A typical 'attractive' female face possesses features such as a shorter, narrower, lower jaw, fuller lips and larger eyes than an average face.
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3D Shapes- Your score: 6 out of 12 Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12 Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12 What does your result suggest?
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If you scored 0 - 6: Do you find yourself having to physically rotate a map to point in the direction in which you're travelling? This might explain why you scored in the lower range in the 3D shapes test. Twice as many women as men score in this category. Previous studies suggest that those with a female-type brain or with an arts background fall into this range. If you scored 7 - 9: In past studies, 50 per cent of the people who scored in this range were women and 50 per cent were men. If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain.

Words- Your score: you associated 5 word(s) with grey and you named 3 word(s) that mean happy. We are assuming that all the words you entered are correct. Average score for men: 11.4 words total Average score for women: 12.4 words total What does your result suggest?

If you produced 1 - 5 words: You are more of the strong, silent type with a male brain. You probably find it easier to express yourself in non-verbal ways, preferring action rather than words. If you produced 6 - 10 words: Most people in this range have a female-type brain. Women are said to use both sides of the brain when doing verbal tasks while men mainly use their left side. Studies have shown that girls develop vocabulary faster than boys. This difference in brain power is caused by levels of pre-natal testosterone.

Ultimatum- If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £25 So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average. What does your response suggest?

Sex differences are small in this task. Demanding less than 60% of the pot (i.e. £30) is more typically female. Demanding more than 65% of the pot (i.e. £32.50) is more typically male. Scientists believe that people with lower testosterone levels tend to take fewer risks so they are probably more willing to keep less for themselves. Those with higher testosterone levels tend to drive a harder bargain and are less compromising. Men's testosterone levels fluctuate over the seasons and are at their lowest levels during the springtime. This is said to influence their bargaining power.

Part 3: My opinion on the test was like oh ok this is going to be another test that just guesses, but really they got the answers pretty close. The questions that they asked on some of them made me think what this question has to do with what the test is about like for an example the Ultimatum. I wasn't sure why they would ask that question but as I kept on reading it made more sense. I did not know at all that ethnicity made a difference in how much they would usually save for themselves. My favorite question was the first one when we had to guess what line the picture was showing. It was my favorite because it really challenged me and the information at the end of the test made me wonder about what testosterone really is. It seems to me that testosterone s in men is everything and helps them think. The test was pretty accurate to me. Especially the part about me liking more mescaline guys. I'm not into the pretty boys, I like the guys with facial hair and broad jaws. The new thing that this test made me realize is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls the right side. When I put my hands together and crossed my fingers together my left thumb was on top of the right meaning that the right side of my brain is dominant. That was something I thought was very interesting. The test that confirms what I already knew is Emotion and Face. In my opinion women are better at reading peoples thought and understanding one another so when I got the highest at empathizing than systemizing because women are better at that. This test made me open my eyes more about how men and women think and what in our brain makes us think like that.

‍Part 4: ‍ The errors are “gender” and “sex” is used interchangeably, evolved differences in men and women are not being measured, and relevant biological and anthropological datasets are ignored. Sex and Gender isn’t even the same thing. Sex is measured by chromosomal content and variety of physiological and developmental measures. Gender is expectations that a given society has for sexes. For the evolution men and women it difficult to measure the evolutionary difference in behavior. The errors that might be a problem for this assessment is the evolved differences in men and women are not being measured. I think that would be a problem because how would we find the answer about men and women or even figure out if studies are accurate if the evolved difference in men and women hasn’t been measured. If the evolved of men and women was measured we may understand them better. What may be done to improve the assessment is to make it more specific on situations. For an example the assessment is about men and women and how they think. If it says how men and women brain works when they are in under pressure may work out good. If it is more specific people may find out what they really want to know about how men and women think. Also at the end of the test it can hopefully figure out what we are good at in life. It may not be accurate, but it can give us short of where we should go towards in the future. Like if I want to be a nurse or a fire fighter I may want to take a test to help me figure out what I’m best at.

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From Professor Barrett:

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