3.4 Cognitive Explanations Of Gender Development: Gender Schema Theory Flashcards
what is Piaget’s theory?
Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world.
He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
(assimilation –> equilibration –> new situation –> disequilibrium –> accommodation)
Loops back to start
what were Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
Include stage name and age range.
Sensorimotor (Birth to 2 years)
Preoperational (2 to 7 years)
Concrete operational (7 to 11 years)
Formal operational (11 years and older)
What happens during the sensorimotor stage of Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
coordination of senses with motor responses, sensory curiosity about the world. Language used for demands and cataloguing. Object permanence is developed
What happens during the preoperational stage of Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
symbolic thinking, use of proper syntax and grammar to express concepts. Imagination and intuition are strong, but complex abstract thoughts are difficult. Conversation is developed.
What happens during the concrete operational stage of Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
concepts attached to concrete situations. Time, space and quantity are understood and can be applied, but not as independent concepts
What happens during the formal operational stage of Piaget’s periods of cognitive development?
theoretical, hypothetical, and counterfactual thinking. Abstract logic and reasoning. Strategy and planning become possible . Concepts learned in one context can be applied to another.
what does gender schema theory focus on?
schema formation
schemata
describe the formation of GST schemata formation?
children’s schemata are formed using information from TV/parents/school etc
they contain information coloured by cultural norms
gender schemata are therefore very simplistic and ‘black and white’ at first - they’re full of stereotypical information
describe in-group and out-group bias
as children develop, they form schemata about other people as well as building their own gender schema
links are made between parts of your self-schema and groups you identify with (e.g. gender groups, family, friends, hobbies)
cognitive processing develops an in-group/out-group bias, this is natural and has evolutionary benefits
- maximisation of in-group positive qualities
-maximisation of out-group negative qualities
- this builds self-esteem and reinforces stereotypes
how does resilience of gender beliefs occur?
GST explains how gender beliefs become so fixed and powerful
information that isn’t schema-consistent is ignored or disregarded
- this is because attention and working memory rely on top-down influence from stored schematic information
- we don’t ignore out-group information on purpose; it’s never perceived
how do peer relationships affect in-group/out-group bias?
in-group/out-group bias directs children towards same-sex peers and away from opposite-sex peers
this happened in the gender constancy stage of Kohlberg’s (1966) theory, but he didn’t describe why
as children get older, they learn that everyone has the same biases (theory of the mind). This means they will fear rejection or hostility from peers if they form relationships with out-group members (Martin, 1991)
- this explains why and not just how constancy happens
define schema
a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain.
a schema helps an individual to make sense of new information.
describe gender schema theory as a cognitive explanation of gender development
Martin and Halverson’s theory differs from Kohlberg’s: 1. information about gender-appropriate behaviour acquired before gender constancy, 2. describes how gender schemas are processed
gender schemas organise and structure information presented to children, form naive theories
gender ingroup schema acquired because child identifies with group and actively seeks information about ingroup
desire to negatively evaluate outgroup to strengthen positive feelings of belonging to ingroup (increased self esteem)
gender attitudes resilient because affect what children perceive and what they remember
peers have strong influence - children seek same-sex friendships because ‘like me’, avoid teasing for opposite sex
evaluate gender schema theory as a cognitive explanation of gender development
gender schemas without constancy - children aged 4 acquired schema, supports GST
gender identity even earlier - Zosuls et al. found gender identity at 19 months; however, Bandura and Bussey argue gender concepts acquired even before this
gender schemas organise memory - gender consistent pictures recalled best (Martin and Halverson)
gender schemas distort information - children misremember inconsistent information, remembers ingroup stereotypes (Martin and Halverson)
Resilience of gender stereotypes - children of working mothers have less fixed stereotypes so can change, but generally exposure to counter stereotypes not effective (Hoffman)
