Kohlberg's theory - cognitive explanation

Question 1

What type of approach is Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 1

Cognitive

Question 2

What does Kohlberg’s theory focus on?

Answer 2

How children’s thinking about gender develops, with thinking occurring in qualitatively different stages

Question 3

What does Kohlberg believe gender identity is?

Answer 3

Something which children actively structure from their own experiences

Question 4

When does gender role behaviour become apparent?

Answer 4

When the children have an understanding that gender is fixed and constant

Question 5

Who influenced Kohlberg?

Answer 5

Piaget

Question 6

What did Piaget say?

Answer 6

Children progress through stages of understanding as their biological maturity allowed them to do so

Question 7

How are gender concepts seen to occur?

Answer 7

Through environmental interactions and restricted biologically controlled mental capabilities at a given time

Question 8

What does a child’s discovery that they are either male or female cause them to do?

Answer 8

Identify with members of their own gender, not the other way around

Question 9

How does a child pass through the stages which Kohlberg proposed?

Answer 9

When their thinking has matured to a certain point

Question 10

What does Kohlberg believe that understand gender is not?

Answer 10

A passive learning process through imitation and observation as children actively structure their learning experiences

Question 11

What are the three stages proposed?

Answer 11

1) gender labelling
2) gender stability
3) gender constancy

Question 12

When does gender labelling occur?

Answer 12

Between 8 and 12 months

Question 13

What does gender labelling involve?

Answer 13

They see gender as a realisation which helps them to categorise their world.
They dont realise boys become men and girls become women

Question 14

What age does gender stability occur?

Answer 14

Ages 3 - 5

Question 15

What does gender stability involve?

Answer 15

They recognise that people retain gender for life but rely on superficial, physical signs to determine gender. For example if a woman shaved her hair they may think she’s changed to a man

Question 16

What age does gender constancy occur?

Answer 16

Ages 6-7

Question 17

What does gender constancy involve?

Answer 17

Realise that gender is permanent, they know a woman who shaves her hair is still a woman
Gender understanding is only complete when children realise that gender remains constant over time and situations

Question 18

What does the DISC acronym stand for?

Answer 18

Development
Identity
Stability
Constancy

Question 19

What did Slaby and Frey find?

Answer 19

they gave questions to 2-5 year olds to assess their level of gender constancy and then several weeks later showed them videos of a man and women performing gender stereotypical activities.
They found that those with higher levels of gender constancy paid more attention to their own gender in order to acquire more information about how to act

Question 20

What did Rabban find?

Answer 20

Rabban found that by asking questions about gender, that children’s thinking changes by age.
By 3, most children demonstrated gender identity but did not have an understanding of what gender they would grow into
By 5, 97% demonstrated gender stability which supports Kohlberg’s theory

Question 21

What did Thompson find?

Answer 21

By age 2, when children were given pictures of boys and girls they could select the same sex ones, demonstrating the child could self label and identify the gender of others.
By 3, 90% showed gender identity, compared with 76% of 2 year olds.

Question 22

What did Mcconaghy find?

Answer 22

If a doll was dressed in transparent clothing so its genitals were visible, children aged 3-5 judged its gender by it’s clothes, not its genitals showing that they rely on superficial signs

Question 23

What does research evidence suggest about Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 23

The concepts of gender identity, stability and constancy occur in that order across many cultures, lending support to Kohlberg’s theory and suggesting a biological mechanism

Question 24

What is a strength of Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 24

It is more holistic than reductionist as it combines social learning and biological developmental factors

Question 25

What are weaknesses of Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 25

It predicts little or no gender specific behaviour before children acquire gender constancy but in infancy boys and girls show preference for stereotypically boy and girl toys.
He underestimated the age at which gender cognition occurs - Bem believed that children have an awareness of gender and gender-specific behaviours from around age 2
The theory concentrates on cognitive factors and overlooks important cultural and social factors
His theory is mainly descriptive, outlining the process of gender development but does not really explain how developments occur and therefore lacks depth of explanation