Gender 3 | Cognitive explanations of gender development Flashcards
AO1 What is Kohlberg’s cognitive theory of gender development
Kohlberg’s theory states that children’s understanding of gender develops in stages influenced by cognitive maturation and that gender develops through three stages gender identity gender stability and gender constancy
AO1 What is gender identity in Kohlberg’s theory
Gender identity is the first stage occurring around age 2-3 where a child can identify themselves and others as male or female but does not understand that gender is stable over time
AO1 What is gender stability in Kohlberg’s theory
Gender stability is the second stage occurring around age 4 where a child understands that their own gender remains stable over time but does not yet understand that gender is consistent across different situations
AO1 What is gender constancy in Kohlberg’s theory
Gender constancy is the final stage occurring around age 7 where a child understands that gender remains the same across time and situations and they begin to seek out gender-appropriate role models
AO1 What is gender schema theory
Gender schema theory suggests that children develop mental frameworks called gender schemas which help them interpret and organise information about gender roles from an early age
AO1 How do gender schemas influence children’s behaviour
Gender schemas influence behaviour by causing children to pay more attention to and remember information that is consistent with their existing gender beliefs while ignoring or misremembering inconsistent information
AO3 What research supports Kohlberg’s theory of gender development
Slaby and Frey 1975 found that children who had reached gender constancy paid more attention to same-sex models supporting Kohlberg’s claim that gender constancy leads to active gender role learning
AO3 What research challenges Kohlberg’s theory of gender development
Bussey and Bandura 1992 found that children as young as four felt good about playing with gender-appropriate toys and bad about playing with gender-inappropriate toys contradicting Kohlberg’s claim that gender-typed behaviour only emerges after gender constancy
AO3 What research supports gender schema theory
Martin and Halverson 1983 found that children remembered gender-consistent information better than gender-inconsistent information supporting the idea that gender schemas influence memory and perception
AO3 What is a limitation of gender schema theory
A limitation of gender schema theory is that it does not explain why children develop gender schemas in the first place suggesting that biological factors such as hormones may also play a role in gender development
