social learning explanation of gender development

Question 1

explain direct reinforcement?

Answer 1

• children likely to be praised for displaying gender appropriate behaviour eg. boys encouraged for sports, punished for being emotional= differential reinforcement
• through this a child learns gender identity
• child will imitate behaviour that has been reinforced

Question 2

indirect (vicarious) reinforcement?

Answer 2

• if another persons actions= good consequence=likely to be imitated
• consequence is bad= less likely to be imitated

Question 3

evaluate supporting evidence for (direct) reinforcement?

Answer 3

• STRENGTH
• Smith and Lloyd
• study with 4-6 month babies who dressed in boys clothes for half the time and girls clothes for the other half
• babies assumed to be boys were given a hammer shaped rattle= encouraged to be active
• girls given cuddly toys=told they were pretty
• gender appropriate behaviour stamped at an early age

Question 4

explain identification and modelling?

Answer 4

-child attaches themselves to a person they want to be and poses qualities child sees as rewarding = role model
tends to be attractive

Question 5

explain mediational processes?

Answer 5

• 4 mediational processes that are central to the learning of gender behaviour
  1. attention- the extent the learner notices behaviour
  2. retention- how well behaviour is remembered
  3. motor repro- ability of observer to reproduce
  4. skills- ability to perform depending on situation

Question 6

evaluate not a developmental theory for meditational processes?

Answer 6

• doesn’t provide an adequate explanation of how learning processes change w/age e.g.. meditational processes
• Andrew Dublin suggests that although a chid takes note of behaviour, imitation of gender role behaviour doesn’t come until later
• consistent of Kholberg’s theory that children don’t become gender active before they reach gender constancy

Question 7

evaluate explains gender roles in western society?

Answer 7

• there are less distinctions between fem/masc stereotypical behaviour in society today than there were in the 1950’s
• explained by shift in social expectations over years=new acceptance of gender behaviour
• this is better explained by the social learning theory rather than the biological