Краткий конспект
Go into a busy newsagent's and have a look at what kind of things people are reading. The chances are that the women are reading about fashion, beauty, romance or relationships and the men are reading about cars, photography, equipment or sport. This ought not to be a surprise. After all, these choices are also seen in typical male and female hobbies - men generally enjoy things such as looking after their cars, buying new parts for their stereos, birdwatching or playing computer games, while women seem to prefer keeping in touch with friends and entertaining.
For a long time experts thought that these differences between male and female interests depended on how parents brought up their children and indeed society in general. However, when we look at young babies, we see that boys and girls have interests which we can call typically 'male' or 'female' from a very early age. A baby girl, as young as 12 months old, is sympathetic when she sees a sad or worried face she also looks sad and makes comforting sounds. Baby girls also make more eye contact and look longer at other people. Boys of the same age look longer at mechanical objects - toys that spin, light up or move. Later, when they become toddlers, boys usually enjoy putting things together and building towns or bridges or vehicles. Boys are often more selfish and aggressive when they play with other children while girls are better at joining in with others. Just like the adults.
So where do these differences between male and female behavior come from? Although it is true that culture and upbringing play an important role, many scientists now believe that the answer also lies in the amount of male and female hormones in the mother's body before a child's birth. Research has shown that this balance of hormones leads to three different types of brain. type E, type S and type B. People who are born with a type S or male brain are generally interested in systems: constructing and organising things and working out how things work. They tend to be good at working out where they are, from maps, making things from plans or collecting things. Others have a type E or female brain, which means they are good at understanding other people's emotions and treating people with care because they are sensitive themselves. Others are bom with characteristics of both these male and female brains - this is called the type B or balanced brain.
Perhaps the most crucial thing that the researchers found out was that the type of brain you have does not have to depend on your sex. Not all men have the male brain, and not all women have the female brain. But on average, more males than females have a type S brain, and more females than males have a type E brain.
So does this mean that one sort of brain is superior? No, no ar all. Some people find some things easier to do than others, but both sexes have their strengths and their weaknesses. Researchers hope that understanding how people are bom with different types of brain can help make all of us more tolerant of difference
