BG19689

19689 “Brain Gender Assessment Response”

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 1:__**

This test is based on the adaption of the Vandenberg & Kuse test, by Michael Peters, University of Guelph, Canada.

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 * __Part 2:__**

My opinion of this test is that I do not think it is accurate. I do not really think it accurately decided that I was a girl even though I already know I am. Some of it was too fast and it hurt my eyes looking at the screen to long so I think that affected the way I took the test. I also do not really understand what it was testing. I know for a fact I am a girl, so why do I need a test to prove this to me? Everyone is different. Some males are more feminine that others and some females are more masculine than others. But that doesn’t mean that they are not what their body parts say they are. So I do not agree with this test because I do not think there is any way it could accurately test gender or if it even tests anything at all.
 * Part 3:**

I do not know if I fully understand the reason for this research. I also do not really see a need to continue with this research. How can anyone be completely sure that they are 100% accurate about their findings on this topic? The one article tries to distinguish the so called “difference” between sex and gender. But I do not particularly care for their definition of either in which he defines them as “Sex is a biological state that is measure via chromosomal content and a variety of physiological and developmental measures. Gender is the roles, expectations and perceptions that a given society has for the sexes.” Fuentes tries to makes this distinction but I would disagree with the definition of gender because I think sex and gender are the same. Furthermore, he uses this as one of his reasons as to why brain gender studies are not accurate. Saletan makes the argument that the brain gender assessments do not work because of casual extrapolation. He goes on to say that although the theories about brain gender are not false, they are just limited and work better in some contexts then others. I agree that this is one of the problems with these studies because everyone is different so it is hard to test. But if it was data to support the difference between a gay man’s brain and a straight man’s brain, it might be useful; researchers would just have to be careful about the context that they use it in. And in that case, we could get into the argument about “what defines a gay person?” The self-fulfillment also could apply to this assessment because after each part, it showed who “typically” did better on that section. So I do think that there could be some truth to that argument because I think that did somewhat affect the way I took that test. Also, stereotypes are another part of why this test might not be accurate. Saletan says, “Girls differ from boys, but girls also differ from other girls.” And he is exactly right when he says that: no two people are exactly alike. They are also trying to see if sex has an effect on how children/people test but if no two people are exactly alike, how are you going to get enough conclusive evidence to support that there is a significant difference in a male and female brain? Therefore to me, there is no way to get accurate and reliable data on this matter and no definitive answer. I do not know if there is a lot that can be done to improve the assessment. For instance, how was the part that tested whether or not I liked masculine men relevant to the differences between the male and female brain? That is simply preference that is up there in the brain somewhere, but it varies from woman to woman and male to male. Also, I am not sure about the whole angle/line test. Just because males “typically” score better than females on that test means that they are better with angles? The test was timed and there were multiple lines therefore there are multiple reasons on why that test does not accurately test my ability with angles. This study, like any scientific study, is not easy. There are many different viewpoints, sets of data, and reasons as to why it is hard to come up with a definitive answer. I think that the brain gender assessment does not accurately represent me nor do I even understand what it is testing. If some things were worked on and cleared up, then maybe it would be a good assessment. But as of now, it is not a great assessment in my opinion.
 * __Part 5:__**