Cognitive explanation- Gender schema theory (gender) Flashcards
Sees gender identity alone as providing
_________ to assume sex typed behaviour patterns.
Childrens understanding of gender changes with ___.
- MOTIVATION
- AGE
GST brings together what two things?
- brings together SLT and cognitions
Social learning- children learn ‘appropriate’ behaviour by observation
Cognitive (+kohlberg) - Children’s active cognitive processing of information determines sex typing
What are schemas?
- Children develop schemas that help them understand, organise and make sense of information.
—> gender is the basis of a VERY POWERFUL schema that can influence the way children interpret information.
What did Martin and Halverson believe?
- Gender schemas organised into groupings of related concepts
- These begin to develop at 2-3 years once children have got GENDER IDENTITY
- they build up knowledge and organise into gender schemas
- Develop via experience
- Schemas provide a basis for interpreting the environment and selecting appropriate behaviour
In group schemas a attitudes and expectations about a child’s ___ gender
Own
Out group schemas are about the _____ other gender
Other
toys, games + objects become categorised for boys or for girls.
___ group information is better remembered than ___ group information.
in, out.
Children pay more attention to info relevant to their own sex than the out group
–> at around 8 years a child develops sophisticated schema for both sexes
Gender schemas undergo developmental changes as children’s general ________ ________ increase
cognitive abilities
What happens to gender schemas in the teenage years?
- Gender ‘roles’ are understood as a social construct
- Gender schemas therefore become more flexible
Study- Martin and Halverson
( aim was to demonstrate that children distort information that’d inconsistent with their gender schemas|)
- Used experimental method, showed 5-6 year olds pictures of children doing either gender-consistent things (boy playing with truck) or gender inconsistent things (boy cleaning the house)
- They asked the children to recall these pictures a week later
- During recall, children changed the sex of the child in the gender inconsistent picture
–> therefore shows how memory is distorted to fit in with existing gender schemas
Bradford study (neutral objects)
- Children shown neutral objects like a pizza cutter or a fan and told that some were ‘boys toys’ and some were ‘girls toys’
- Found that children spent more time playing with toys they believed were appropriate to their sex
- A week later, the children could remember which object was associated with which sex
—> gender schemas affect behaviour and playing experiences
Aubry- longitudinal study into preferences for gender related items
- Once belief formed that an object was for the opposite sex, there was a reduced preference for the object
—> gender schema affect behaviour