User:Kdanjuma/Sex differences in psychology

The differences between males and females in the context of childhood play is linked to differences in Gender roles. Research on the "acquisition of fundamental movement skills" found that even though the level of mastery for certain skills where about the same for both boys and girls, after a certain age boys have better object control skills than girls do.

Some differences in gender roles influence on childhood play are suggested to be biological. A study by Alexander, Wilcox, and Woods led to the conclusion that toy preferences are innate. The reason being that the infants in the study visually discriminated between dolls and trucks. Whereas the girls preferred the dolls over the truck, the boys preferred the trucks.

Hines and Kaufman hypothesized that girls with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia who are exposed to high androgen levels during pregnancy might be more physically forceful and rougher like boys are observed to be when they Play. The results of Hines and Kaufman's research led them to conclude that androgen didn't cause girls with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia to be rougher than unaffected girls during play. The study suggested socialization also influenced the type of play children participated in.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

The epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder varies amongst males and females. Globally, data isn't available for every individual country, but a worldwide review of epidemiological surveys, found a median of 62 out of 10,000 people have ASD. Amongst 8-year-olds in the United States 1 in 44 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder, but it is "4 times more common among males than females." According to a research looking at the disparity between the actual prevalence of ASD and what actually gets diagnosed, there is a 2:1 ratio of males to females who are undiagnosed. This same statistic suggests that females have a disadvantage when it comes to being diagnosed and are underrepresented.

The "extreme male brain" or empathizing–systemizing theory views the autism spectrum as an extreme version of male-female differences regarding systemizing and empathizing abilities. It's used to explain the possible reason why males with ASD score higher on systemizing tests than females with ASD.

Symptom presentation in girls with ASD aren't as noticeable the way they are in boys. Females are better able to cope with the symptoms and often camouflage to be able to fit in, and have relationships. Females with ASD are better able to fit in socially, and form relationships with others than boys are. Camouflaging has been suggested to be the cause of females with ASD having more emotional distress when male counterparts usually had more external social problems.

According to the Female Protective Effect Hypothesis, for females to develop autism they need to have acquired a wider range of genetic mutations than their male counterpart.