Examples in Science Prenatal Hormone Theory Contemporary research continues in a more subtle vein through Prenatal Hormone Theory. According to the Prenatal Hormone Theory, "male and female foetuses differ in testosterone concentrations beginning as early as week 8 of gestation [and] the early hormone difference exerts permanent influences on brain development and behaviour." Charges of neurosexism may then be moved against the PHT if these alleged hormonal differences are interpreted as causing the male/female brain distinction and in turn are used to reinforce stereotypical behaviours and gender roles. Empathising-Systematising Theory Main article: Empathizing – systemizing theory Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Rebecca Jordan-Young provides a good case study of neurosexism in studies of those with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). Because Prenatal Hormone Theory posits early steroid hormones during fetal development as conducive to sex-typical behaviours, studies of genetic females with CAH are important to test the feasibility of this hypothesis. Examples in Scientific Communication The media reporting of the neuroscience of sex differences has also attracted criticism. A high-profile example was the reporting of a 2014 neuroimaging study on sex differences the structural connectome of the human brain. The study used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate white matter connections in the brains of 949 participants ranging from 8-22 years old. The authors claimed to have discovered "fundamental sex differences in the structural architecture of the human brain". The study was widely reported by media organizations around the world. A content analysis of the media coverage investigated the claims made in the original scientific article and in several different types of media reporting. The analysis showed that information from the scientific article was given "increasingly diversified, personalized, and politicized meaning" in media outlets and was widely seen to have vindicated traditional gender stereotypes, even though the neuroimaging technique used could only detect structural differences, not functional differences, between the sexes. The Changing Media Environment The way scientific information is passed from the scientific community into the public consciousness has changed with the development of technology, social media, and news platforms. The traditional route from study, to media, to public consciousness no longer permits. The advent of the "blogosphere" and other forms of social media mean that audiences now actively produce and critique scientific alongside other scientists, whether or not this is a benefit or hinderance to the scientific community is yet to be realised given the infancy of these channels. We should, however, remain alert to the problems arising from greater public involvement in our scientific communication, particularly for the understanding of findings. Communication and Neurological discoveries The interest and coverage generated by neurological studies on sex differences is an instance of a wider phenomenon. It is possible to see the 'neuro-' prefix being widely used: "neuromarketing", "neuroeconomics", "neurodrinks". One study documented in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience tested the hypothesis that irrelevant neuroscience explanations accompanying descriptions of psychological phenomena causes people to rate the descriptions as better quality. Results showed that irrelevant neuroscience information does indeed cause people to rate explanations more satisfying than without, even in cases where neuroscience was not useful to explain the phenomenon. Sample Sizes Fine has criticised the small sample sizes that are typical of Functional Neuroimaging (FNI) studies reporting sex differences in the brain. She supports this claim with a meta-analysis. She takes a sample of thirty-nine studies from Medline, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases, published between 2009 and 2010, in which sex differences were referred to in the article title. Fine reports that over the entire sample, the mean number of males was 19, and the mean number of females was 18.5. Disregarding the studies making sex-by-age and sex-by-group comparisons (which require larger sample sizes), the average sample sizes were even smaller, with a mean of 13.5 males, and a mean of 13.8 females. She also points out that the second largest study in the group reported a null finding.
Examples in science Prenatal hormone theory Contemporary research continues in a more subtle vein through Prenatal Hormone Theory. According to the Prenatal Hormone Theory, "male and female foetuses differ in testosterone concentrations beginning as early as week 8 of gestation [and] the early hormone difference exerts permanent influences on brain development and behaviour." Charges of neurosexism may then be moved against the PHT if these alleged hormonal differences are interpreted as causing the male/female brain distinction and in turn are used to reinforce stereotypical behaviours and gender roles. Empathising – systemising theory Congenital adrenal hyperplasia Rebecca Jordan-Young provides a good case study of neurosexism in studies of those with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). Because Prenatal Hormone Theory posits early steroid hormones during fetal development as conducive to sex-typical behaviours, studies of genetic females with CAH are important to test the feasibility of this hypothesis. Examples in scientific communication The media reporting of the neuroscience of sex differences has also attracted criticism. A high-profile example was the reporting of a 2014 neuroimaging study on sex differences the structural connectome of the human brain. The study used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate white matter connections in the brains of 949 participants ranging from 8-22 years old. The authors claimed to have discovered "fundamental sex differences in the structural architecture of the human brain". The study was widely reported by media organizations around the world. A content analysis of the media coverage investigated the claims made in the original scientific article and in several different types of media reporting. The analysis showed that information from the scientific article was given "increasingly diversified, personalized, and politicized meaning" in media outlets and was widely seen to have vindicated traditional gender stereotypes, even though the neuroimaging technique used could only detect structural differences, not functional differences, between the sexes. The changing media environment The way scientific information is passed from the scientific community into the public consciousness has changed with the development of technology, social media, and news platforms. The traditional route from study, to media, to public consciousness no longer permits. The advent of the "blogosphere" and other forms of social media mean that audiences now actively produce and critique scientific alongside other scientists, whether or not this is a benefit or hinderance to the scientific community is yet to be realised given the infancy of these channels. We should, however, remain alert to the problems arising from greater public involvement in our scientific communication, particularly for the understanding of findings. Communication and neurological discoveries The interest and coverage generated by neurological studies on sex differences is an instance of a wider phenomenon. It is possible to see the 'neuro-' prefix being widely used: "neuromarketing", "neuroeconomics", "neurodrinks". One study documented in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience tested the hypothesis that irrelevant neuroscience explanations accompanying descriptions of psychological phenomena causes people to rate the descriptions as better quality. Results showed that irrelevant neuroscience information does indeed cause people to rate explanations more satisfying than without, even in cases where neuroscience was not useful to explain the phenomenon. Sample sizes Fine has criticised the small sample sizes that are typical of Functional Neuroimaging (FNI) studies reporting sex differences in the brain. She supports this claim with a meta-analysis. She takes a sample of thirty-nine studies from Medline, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases, published between 2009 and 2010, in which sex differences were referred to in the article title. Fine reports that over the entire sample, the mean number of males was 19, and the mean number of females was 18.5. Disregarding the studies making sex-by-age and sex-by-group comparisons (which require larger sample sizes), the average sample sizes were even smaller, with a mean of 13.5 males, and a mean of 13.8 females. She also points out that the second largest study in the group reported a null finding.
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Science
science
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Hormone Theory
hormone theory
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Empathising-Systematising Theory Main article: Empathizing
Empathising
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systemizing
systemising
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Adrenal Hyperplasia
adrenal hyperplasia
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Scientific Communication
scientific communication
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Changing Media Environment
changing media environment
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Neurological
neurological
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Sizes
sizes