SLT of Gender Development Flashcards
what’re the key assumptions of SLT of gender
the role that social context plays in gender development, stating all behaviour (including gender) to be learned from others such as parents, peers and teachers.
emphasis s the environmental influences
what is direct reinforcement
direct praise/reinforcement for gender appropriate behaviour
what is differential reinforcement
the different reinforcement of boys and girls to show gender-appropriate behaviour
what is indirect (vicarious) reinforcement
- the learned imitation of behaviours demonstrated by another person, based on the consequences of the behaviour and if they’re favourable.
- if so, then the behaviour is more likely to be imitated, and vice versa for punishment
what is identification and modelling
- people in a child’s environment may be role models
- this is someone the child identifies with and tries to be like
- these people likely have a higher status than the child, same gender, and have ‘desirable qualities’ eg attractiveness, skills or fame
how does identification and modelling link to gender development
eg a mother may model stereotypically feminine behaviour when tidying the house or preparing dinner.
when a little girl copies this, eg attempting to ‘feed’ her dolls with a toy bottle’ she is modelling the behaviour that she has witnessed
how do the mediational processes link to gender
Attention - boy wants to be like his favourite footballer, watching his moves made
retention - the boy remembers the skill he saw when he’s on the pitch with a football
motor reproduction - the boy tries to practice the skill until he can do it well
motivation - the motivation comes from the boy wanting to be like his idol and to get the same praise as his idol
what’re 2 positive evals of the SLT of gender development
Smith & Lloyd’s clothes study
Perry & Bussey’s lab experiment
how is Smith & Lloyd’s clothes study a support for SLT gender development
- dressed babies (irrespective of sex) in boys (50%) and girls (50%) clothes
- adults were asked to interact with the babies, with research finding that when dressed as a boy they were given a hammer shaped rattle and encouraged to be active/adventurous.
- when in girls clothes adults often have babies a cuddle doll, told they were ‘pretty’ and reinforced for being passive
- shows that gender appropriate behaviour is stamped in from an early age through differential reinforcement- people treat the child according to gender perceptions
how is Perry & Bussey’s lab experiment a strength of SLT of gender development
- 20 boys/ 20 girls ages 8-10 watched an adult pick a fruit from a bowl
- the male adult always chose an orange and female a banana
- the children, when asked, tended to pick the fruit that the same sex adult had chosen
- shows identification and modelling, where the child identifies to the person they see as similar to themselves - the same-sex adult
what’re 2 neg evals of SLT of gender development
developmental process
comparison with other approaches
how is the developmental process a negative eval for SLT of gender development
- SLT implies that modelling can occur at any age. but it is illogical that children who are 2, for example, learn in the same way as children aged 9 (eg conflicting Kohlberg’s theory)
- shows that influence of age/maturation (development) on gender concept learning isn’t considered by SLT - a limitation
how is comparison with other approaches a limitation for SLT of gender development
- for example bio, David Reimer’s innate male biology was more influential over his behaviour than Dr Money’s nurture influence of pushing Reimer to become female
- shows how the nurture aspect of SLT is flawed as it ignores the important influence of nature in gender development
