When we were once little kids, we humans tend to choose playthings based on our gender. Normally, boys deal with robots, toy trucks and war toys, whereas, girls prefer playing with Barbie dolls or cuddly stuffed animals. We have this propensity because of several factors such as cues we’ve picked up from our parents, peer group or from various media like the TV.
But did you know that there is a study in the
The concept that children’s preference in toys might be genetically determined has long been pronounced by psychologists as unscientific, sexist or both. But in spite of that, some researchers still don’t give up their notion which is in contrary to that of the psychologists. One of them is Kim Wallen of the
She, together with her team of scientists conducted a study about it. However this time, the participants were not humans but another type of primates known as rhesus monkeys. Rhesus monkey is one of the most famous species of Old World monkeys found in
Wallen’s team decided to offer typical "male" and "female" playthings to the monkeys to see if preferences are associated with sex. Surprisingly, they did. The 11 male monkeys headed straight for the wheeled toys, such as dump trucks. Meanwhile, the 23 females were more curious, and played with both the wheeled toys and plush toys.
"They are not subject to advertising. They are not subject to parental encouragement, they are not subject to peer chastisement," Wallen said, contending that even in monkeys, preferences on a certain thing, other than cues we’ve got from the others, are highly based upon the individual’s sex.
The results of from Wallen’s team support an earlier study at
Source:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/07/monkey-play-toy.html
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