4.4. Cognitive Explanation: Kohlberg

Question 1

What does interactionist mean?

Answer 1

Nature - all born with ability to create schemas
Nurture - schemas develop due to experience

Question 2

What is stage theory?

Answer 2

Gender understanding runs parallel to intellectual development (gets better with age)
A gradual process

Question 3

What does egocentric mean?

Answer 3

An inability to see the world from another’s POV

Question 4

What is conservation?

Answer 4

Something can stay the same (quantity) even though its appearance has changed (2 glasses, volume task)

Question 5

What are the 3 stages that Kohlberg proposed?

Answer 5

• Gender identity
• Gender stability
• Gender constancy

Question 6

What happens in the gender identity stage?

Answer 6

• 2-3 years
• Can label self as boy/girl (by 3 yrs)
• Relies on physical appearance
• Doesn’t understand gender as permanent
• Child is egocentric
• Child doesn’t understand conservation

Question 7

What happens in the gender stability stage?

Answer 7

• 3-4 years
• Child know their gender stays the same
• Cannot apply this knowledge to other people/ other situations
• Child is egocentric
• Child doesn’t understand conservation

Question 8

What happens in the gender constancy stage?

Answer 8

• Around 6 years
• Complete understanding of gender for self and others across time, situation and despite superficial change
• They now look for role models to confirm their knowledge - not egocentric and understand conservation

Question 9

Strength: Ken Doll experiment

Answer 9

A Ken doll is shown to a 2,4 and 6 year old
- Phase A: Ken is wearing shorts/shirt/short hair - boy, boy, boy
- Phase B: Ken is wearing skirt/shirt/short hair - girl, girl, boy
- Phase 6: Ken is wearing skirt/shirt/long hair - girl, girl, boy

• Backs up 2,4 yr old are egocentric and Kohlberg’s stage theory

Question 10

Strength: Slaby and Frey

Answer 10

• Showed pictures to children of females and males doing the same task. Children in the gender consistency stage took longer looking at the pictures
• Shows identification - backs up gender knowledge develops with age

Question 11

Weakness: interviews

Answer 11

• The research method to obtain knowledge for this theory comes from interviews with children (2-6 year olds).
• Questions were adapted but children’s language is limited, they may not have understood the question or been able to verbalise it, also they are suggestive
• Reduces validity of the theory explaining gender development

Question 12

Weakness: SLT

Answer 12

• SLT challenges this theory as Kohlberg’s theory cannot explain why boys are so reluctant to play with girls’ toys (from 4)
• The theory doesn’t explain gender differences
• SLT explains this through identification and operant conditioning (boys punished for playing with Barbies)