COGNITIVE EXPLANATIONs: GENDER SCHEMA THEORY

Question 1

Who came up with gender schema theory

Answer 1

Martin and Halverson

Question 2

Define gender schema theory (2)

Answer 2

• organised set of beliefs and expectations related to gender that are derived from experience.
  
  • Such schema guide a person’s understanding of their own gender and gender-appropriate behaviour in general.

Question 3

explain gender scheme theory and how is it similar to kohlbergs theory

Answer 3

• Childrens understanding of gender increases with age
  
  • shares Kohlberg’s view that children develop their understanding of
    gender by actively structuring their own learning, rather than by passively observing and imitating role models

Question 4

• How does It differ from kohlbergs theory, how is it similar to SLT and the same as kohlbergs theory

Answer 4

• The difference between this approach and Kohlberg’s is that for initial understanding of gender to develop, children need not understand that gender is permanent.
  
  • Like SLT, this approach sees children learning ‘appropriate’ patterns of
    behaviour by observation.
  • But, similarly to Kohlberg, children’s active cognitive processing of information also contributes to sex typing.

Question 5

What is gender schema

Answer 5

organised grouping of related concepts developed via experience→ related to gender and gender appropriate behaviour

Question 6

when do gender schemas develop

Answer 6

begins to develop at 2-3 years

Question 7

Explain the theory of gender schemas (2)

Answer 7

once children have gender identity, they accumulate knowledge about the sexes, organising this into gender schemas.

Such schemas provide a basis for interpreting the environment and selecting appropriate forms of behaviour, and thus children's self-perceptions become sex typed.

Question 8

What are in group schema and out group schemas and example that provides these

Answer 8

In-group schemas: formed concerning attitudes and expectations about one’s own
gender→ Consistent with the idea that children pay more attention to information relevant to their gender identity rather than opposite sex (out group)

out-group schemas: around a child develops elaborate scheme is for both genders→ Serves to strengthen the child’s level of self-esteem

Toys, games and even objects become categorised as for boys' or for girls'

Question 9

Developmental changes in childrens gender schema: What is the theory that happens in preschool (2)

Answer 9

Preschoolers learn distinctions about what kinds of activities and behaviour go with each gender by observing other children and through reinforcements received from parents

for example, 'men have short hair and girls play with dolls'.

They also learn gender 'scripts', sequences of events that go with each gender, such as 'cooking dinner' (female) and building with tools' (male).

Question 10

Developmental changes in childrens gender schema: What is the theory of gender schema’s change in Age 4-6 years

Answer 10

children learn subtle and complex sets of
associations for their own gender: what children of the same gender like and do not like, how they play, how they talk, what kinds of people they spend time with.

Question 11

Developmental changes in childrens gender schema: What is the theory of gender schema’s change in Age 5-6 years

Answer 11

gender constancy develops at 5-6 years, children’s understanding of ‘what people like me do’ becomes more elaborated. This ‘rule’ is treated as absolute.

Question 12

Developmental changes in childrens gender schema: What is the theory of gender schema’s change in Late childhood (3)

Answer 12

• understood that ‘rules’ are just social conventions and gender-role schemas become more flexible.
  
  • Teenagers abandon the automatic assumption that what their own gender does is preferable
  • minority of teenagers define themselves as androgynous.

Question 13

Explain how gender is represented in Disney movies (3)

Answer 13

stark differences in the way in which male and female characters have traditionally been portrayed in Disney films.

Male leads typically characterised as independent, intelligent, athletic, important and stronger than female characters. Eg Tarzan, Prince Charming and Hercules all conform to alpha-male stereotype.

female characters often portrayed as weaker, more controlled by others, emotional, warmer, romantic, complaining and more troublesome than male characters. Eg Snow White, Sleeping Beauty.

Question 14

What was masters et Al finding that supported gender schema

Answer 14

children aged between four and five years
selected toys by their gender label (boy toy/girl toy) rather than which gender
was seen playing with the toy, illustrating the application of gender schemas.

Question 15

• What was Martin et als studys aim of gender consistent and gender inconsistent images

Answer 15

Study investigated whether six year-old children were more likely to recall gender consistent or gender inconsistent images

Question 16

Explain Martin et Al study of gender consistent and gender inconsistent images (2)

Answer 16

• Twenty children were shown ten photographs of adults performing gender-consistent activities (such as a woman washing the dishes) and a further ten photographs of adults performing gender-inconsistent activities (such as a man bottle-feeding a baby).
  
  • A week later, the children were tested on their recall of all the photographs they had seen.

Question 17

What was found In Martin et Al study of gender consistent and gender inconsistent images

Answer 17

• children under age of six were more likely to remember photographs of gender-consistent when tested a
  week later
  
  • Children tended to change the sex of the person carrying out the gender inconsistent activity in the photographs when asked to recall them.

Question 18

What conclusion was made In Martin et Al study of gender consistent and gender inconsistent images

Answer 18

Suppose idea that memory made maybe distorted to fit existing gender schemas

Question 19

Evaluate how In Martin et Al study of gender consistent and gender inconsistent images supports rigidity of gender beliefs (3) (+ve)

Answer 19

theory account for fact that young children tend to hold very fixed and rigid gender attitudes. Information that conflicts with existing schema, such as the idea of a woman working on a building site, would
be discounted or ignored in favour of information that confirms in-group
schema, such as a woman working as a secretary.
Similarly, children display a strong in-group bias in terms of how they process information and this is explained by the fact that children pay more attention to information that is relevant to their own experience.

explain many aspects of young children's thinking about gender.

Question 20

How is gender schema theory reductionist (-ve)

Answer 20

offers a plausible compromise between social learning and cognitive developmental
theories, the theory neglects the influence of biological factors, assuming that all gender-orientated behaviour is created through cognitive means.