SLT Exp: Gender Development

Question 1

SLT - Gender Development

Answer 1

1) SLT acknowledges the role of social context in gender development.
2) Gender behaviour is learned from observing others and being reinforced for the imitation of the behaviour.

SLT draws attention to the influence (e.g. peers, parents, teachers, culture and the media) of the environment (nurture) in shaping gender development.

Question 2

Direct Reinforcement

Answer 2

1) Children are reinforced for gender-appropriate behaviour.
E.g. boys may be praised for being active and assertive and punished for being passive or gentle.

2) Differential reinforcement explains why boys & girls learn distinctly different gender behaviours - they are reinforced for different behaviours, which they then reproduce.

Question 3

Indirect Reinforcement

Answer 3

1) Vicarious reinforcement - if consequences of another person’s behaviour are favourable, that behaviour is more likely to be imitated by a child (e.g. if a girl sees her mother being complimented when wearing a pretty dress).

2) Vicarious punishment - if consequences of behaviour are seen to be unfavourable (i.e. punished), behaviour is less likely to be imitated (e.g. if a little boy sees another boy teased for displaying feminine behaviour they are unlikely to copy it).

Question 4

Identify with Role Models

Answer 4

A child will identify with people around them that they perceive to be like them or like someone I want to be.

These role models tend to be:
* Part of the child’s immediate environment (parents, teachers, siblings, etc.).
* In the media (pop or sports stars).
* Attractive, high status.
* The same sex as the child.

Question 5

Modelling & Imitation

Answer 5

1) Modelling in gender development occurs in two ways:

1. A mother may model stereotypically feminine behaviour when tidying the house or preparing dinner.
2. When a girl copies her mother setting the table, or attempts to ‘feed’ her doll using a toy bottle, she is modelling the behaviour she has observed.

Question 6

Meditational Processes

Answer 6

4 mediational processes in learning gender behaviour:

• Attention - for instance, a little boy might watch what his favourite footballer does.
• Retention - remembering the skills of the footballer and
  trying to reproduce these when he plays.
• Motivation - desire to be like his hero.
• Reproduction - be physically capable of doing it.

Question 7

Strength for Reinforcement

Answer 7

RESEARCH SUPPORT

1) Smith and Lloyd (1978) observed adults with babies aged 4-6-months who were dressed half the time in boys’ clothes and half the time in girls’ clothes.

2) Babies assumed to be boys were encouraged to be adventurous and active. Babies assumed to be girls were reinforced for passivity, given a doll
and praised for being pretty.

—> This suggests that gender-appropriate behaviour is stamped in at an early age through differential reinforcement and supports the SLT
explanation of gender development.

Question 8

Strength of SLT

Answer 8

EXPLAIN CULTURAL CHANGES

1) There is more androgyny in many societies today than there was in the past.

2) This shift in social expectations and cultural norms means new forms of gender behaviour are unlikely to be punished and may be reinforced.

—> This shows that SLT can better explain gender behaviour than biology.

Question 9

Limitation of SLT

Answer 9

DOESN’T SHOW CAUSES

1) SLT does not attempt to explain how the gender typical behaviours developed in the first place.

2) The theory only explains how it propagates from one generation to the next, not where gender behaviours/roles originated from.