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there are few connections running
from one side to the other. It has
been shown that boys tend to
attack quizzes and puzzles using
only one side of the brain while
girls use both sides.
Hormonal or environmental,
these differences definitely do
exist. Because women have more
connected brain halves, they tend
to recover from a stroke more
speedily and completely than men.
Girls who have learning difficulties
tend to improve faster than boys
and this may explain why boys are
more prone to learning difficulties.
Testosterone
Testosterone affects mood and
energy and also causes energetic and
boisterous behavior. Testosterone,
Steve Biddulph explains makes
certain parts of the brain grow
and others slowdown in growth.
Illustrated in a famous study, a tribe
of male monkeys in a laboratory
setting were closely observed to
learn about male social structure.
Researchers found there was a
definite hierarchy in the males; each
monkey was fully aware who the
boss was. The researchers captured
the lowest ranking monkey and gave
him an injection of testosterone.
After placing him back with his
tribe they noticed with amazement
he began a boxing match with his
‘boss!’ After winning, he challenged
each ‘boss’ in succession, one by one,
until he worked his way up the rank.
Unfortunately after the injection wore
off, he was knocked all the way back
to the bottom of his heap.
The Solution
The answer to help boys with
jumpiness, according to Steve
Biddulph, is structure. Boys feel
insecure if there is not enough
structure in a situation and if
there is no one in charge, they
begin to jostle one another to
set a hierarchy. Boys tend to be
easier to handle if structure can
be provided through the use of
a clear cut boss or supervisor
figure-head.
The Brain
Gender differences are also evident
in the brains of babies. A boy’s brain
develops more slowly than a girl’s
and the left and right sides of the
brain form fewer connections than a
girls. One half handles language and
reasoning and the other movement,
emotion, and sense of space and
position. Both halves talk to each
other through a big central bundle
of fibers called the corpus callosum.
The corpus callosum in boys is
proportionately smaller in size and
Adults tend to treat boys more
harshly than girls; often parents
will hug and cuddle a girl more
than boys, even as new-born
babies.
After learning to stand, boys
show more interest in roaming
and girls are less likely to roam
than boys.
By age 3, boys have greater
muscle mass and girls have more
evident fatty tissue.
By Preschool and Kindergarten,
boys tend to build higher
structures that topple and girls
tend to build long and low stable
structures of blocks.
Books: Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph
H
Boy babies are less sensitive to
faces.
Girl babies have a much better
sense of touch.
Boys grow faster and stronger,
yet are more troubled by
separations from their mother.
By toddlerhood, boys move
around a lot and tend to
occupy more space than girls.
Boys also are less friendly to
strangers whereas girls tend
to congregate with other
girls and are more apt to be
friendly to a newcomer.
Boys comprise 95 percent of
all hyperactive children.
Physiological differences between
girls & boys
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Mar/Apr 2015