Learning approach: Gender

Question 1

sex

Answer 1

biological differences between males and females including anatomy, hormones and chromosomes. Sex is assigned at birth and distinct from gender.

Question 2

gender

Answer 2

the psychological, social and cultural differences between boys/men and girls/women, including attitudes, behaviours and social rolesas distinct from biological sex. (we use the terms boys/men and girls/women).

Question 3

gender schema

Answer 3

a mental representation consisting of knowledge about the ways males and females are expected to behave

Question 4

binary

Answer 4

describes a choice of two states, for example something can be either on or off, or a person can only be a man or a women.

Question 5

non-binary

Answer 5

a term that suggests gender (or any concept) cannot be divided into two distinct categories. eg. gender is not a question of being a man or a woman.

Question 6

androgyny

Answer 6

displaying a balance of masculine and feminine characterisiics in ones personality.

andro = male.
gyny = female

Question 7

gender fluid

Answer 7

having different gender identities at different times, including single-gender and non-binary.

Question 8

transgender

Answer 8

relating to a person whose gender does not correspond with their birth sex.

Question 9

gender dysphoria

Answer 9

describes the discomfort or distress arising from a mismatch between a persons sex assigned at birth and their gender identity. this is also the clinical diagnoses for someone who isn’t happy with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Question 10

masculinity

Answer 10

traits and behaviours considered appropriate for boys/men in a particular culture, distinct from male biological sex.

Question 11

OPERANT CONDITIONING: gender

Answer 11

operant conditioning explains gender through reinforcement. when a child displays specific behaviour for which they are reinforced, then that behaviour is likely to be repeated. a parent might selectively reinforce gender appropriate behaviour and ignore or punish gender-inappropriate behaviour. therefore, the child becomes gendered as a result of direct experience

Question 12

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY: gender

Answer 12

social learning explains gender through indirect experience, children observe the behaviour of models as they act in the environment. children imitate the behaviour of important people especially if that person is rewarded for behaving that way. a person is more likely to imitate the behaviour of a role model of the same gender. therefore, a young girl might model her behaviour on her mum or older sister, and in this way, she takes on the gender-appropriate behaviour of being female

Question 13

name 2 strengths of the learning approaches explanation of gender

Answer 13

1. there is research to support from ‘baby x’ study.

Smith and Lloyd dressed 6 month old babies in either blue or pink clothes and asked participants to interact with the babies. they found that the participants treated the infants differently depending on the infants gender label which was determined by how they were dressed. if the infant was dressed in pink, the participant chose the doll for the infant to play with. if the infant was dressed in blue, the participant chose the hammer for it to play with.

2. there is research to support SLT’s assumption that behaviour is learnt via observation and imitation of models

Bandura found that children’s imitated the behaviour of adult role models. in addition, they were more likely to imitate the models behaviour if they saw the model being rewarded for their behaviour (vicarious reinforcement) and if the model was the same gender as them (identification). the results add validity to SLT and the concepts of modelling, vicarious reinforcement and identification

Question 14

femininity

Answer 14

traits and behaviours considered appropriate for girls/women in a particular culture, distinct from female biological sex.

Question 15

name 1 limitation of the learning approaches explanation of gender

Answer 15

incomplete explanation

operant conditioning and social learning theory assume that children are ‘passive’ in the learning of their gender identity. however, children see out (by asking questions) information about gender (forming schemas) before they acquire a gender identity. eg adolescents seeking out gender atypical models in the media. this suggests that they actively construct gender rather than passively receive it. therefore, an interaction between the learning approach and the cognitive approach may be a more complete explanation of gender