Kohlberg's Developmental Theory Flashcards
What is the cognitive developmental approach
The role of cognition in the process of gender development as infants go older physical changes in the brain mean we process from simple to complex abstract thought about our gender identity
What are the three stages we pass three through the ages of 2 to 6
One gender labelling
two gender stability
three gender consistency
What is gender stability
Gender stability is around four years old where children recognise the gender is stable overtime boys grow into men but they do not recognise that gender is consistent across situations for example that males might change in the females if they engage in female activities
What is gender consistency
This is where children around the age of six come to realise that gender is consistent across situations for example,that just because a boy may a dress or play like a girl they remain a boy. Gender is now a fixed rather than a fluid category in the children’s mind
What is conservation
This is the ability that develops. Around the age of 6 to understand that despite superficial appearances the basic properties of an object stay the same.
What happens if children are not conserve
Children who can’t conserve may believe that supervision changes to your parents means that the central or something has changed for example, a man he puts on a woman’s wig becomes a woman. When the ability to conserve develops children realise that despite changes in appearance gender is consistent
What is the research support in the evaluation to Kohlbergs theory
Paul bags theory predicts that as infants grow older they are increasedly accurate incorrectly labelling gender Thompson found that where as the 76% of two year olds could accurately identify their sexand 90% of three-year-olds
Slaby asked young children questions such as what you are a girl or a boy when you were a baby? And when you grow up will you be a mummy or daddy? As predicted, infants only started to give correct answers but they had to recognise that gender was stable overtime this is the second stage of gender stability
What are criticisms for KOHLBERG’s Theory
Bem showed young children a photo of an infant naked, and dressed them in same-sex clothing then opposite sex play then. He then asked them to identify what gender input was. 40% of 3 to 5-year-olds identify gender correctly. 60% felt answer the question collect correctly and 77% failed because I did not know what else it says genitalia look like. It was argued that when infants are asked questions about gender when models are presented with contradictory for conflicting keys such as a boy dressed as a girl, They are likely to make incision based on which Cue is most obvious and relevant labelling gender
What are the gender differences for kohlbergs theory
It was found that boys exhibit gender consistency for girls, this may be because it is relatively easy to get girls to take on masculine activities we may resist engaging in people and activities. So the boys develop a further sense of gender identity quicker by defining themselves as male but not as female
