Lesson 3 Flashcards
Gender constancy
The idea that gender is a permanent condition
Not mastered until around 7 years old
Social learning theory
Describes how the development of gendered behavior is influenced by environmental factors
Includes operant conditioning and observational learning
Operant conditioning
The manipulation of a behavior by the stimuli (or consequences) that follow it
Two types: positive reinforcement and punishment
Observational learning (modeling)
Happens when people acquire behaviors they have seen other people perform
Can contribute to development of eating disorders
Positive reinforcement
The presentation of a stimulus increases the likelihood that someone will repeat the behavior
Parents are likely to positively reinforce behavior consistent with child’s gender
Punishment
The presentation of a stimulus decreases the likelihood that someone will repeat a behavior.
Schema
A mental template that is used to organize information and shape the way people see the world
Gender schema theory
Suggests that people begin to acquire gender relevant schema at early ages.
As children acquire gender schemas, they use them to understand and organize information about their own gender.
Gender schemas CAN change
Sex-typed people
Have more elaborate gender schemas and rely on them more heavily than others.
Endorse many items stereotypical of their gender on the BSRI
Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)
Used to measure the degree of femininity, masculinity, or androgyny that a person exhibits
Can rate people as highly masculine AND highly feminine, two separate constructs
Study findings on sex-typed words
Found that people who were sex-typed according to the BSRI were significantly more likely to remember words in clusters based on gender than the non sex-typed participants. This suggests that the sex-typed people are using their gender schema to organize and remember the words they saw.
Gender and Play
When by themselves, girls and boys play similarly
When in groups, gender differences emerge
Girls generally engage in pro-social, imaginative play in small groups; involves self-disclosure, cooperation, and relationship building
Boys more likely to play loud, rough, active, competitive games; less likely to be actively supervised
Gender segregation
Children express strong preferences to play with other children of the same gender.
Observed in many cultures
Probably driven by wanting to play with similar peers and by fear of disapproval from same-sex peers
Self-perpetuating
Increases throughout childhood
By 5th grade, engage in few voluntary interactions
Boys more intolerant of peers who play with girls than vice versa.
The thin ideal
A culturally prescribed ideal appearance for women that emphasizes extreme thinness.
Puberty
For girls, occurs between 8-16, about 1-2 years earlier than boys
Development of secondary sex characteristics.
Girls gain body fat, hips widen, breasts become larger, nipples more pronounced, pubic and underarm hair, acne, body odor
