Social learning explanation of gender development

Question 1

Social learning explanation of gender development

parts

Answer 1

Direct reinforcement 
Indirect (vicarious) reinforcement 
Identification	
Modelling
Meditational processes 
  └attention, retention, motivation, motor reproduction

Question 2

social learning theory (SLT):

Answer 2

a way of explaining behaviour that includes direct and indirect (vicarious) reinforcement
└combines ;earning theory + cognitive factors

└draws attention to influence of environment (nurture) on gender development
└e.g. parents, peers, teacher, culture, media

Question 3

Direct reinforcement

Answer 3

└children reinforced (praised, encouraged) for gender appropriate behaviour

└differential reinforcement → child learns gender identity

Question 4

Indirect (vicarious) reinforcement

Answer 4

└if consequences of another persons are favourable (rewarded)
└children are more likely to imitate it
└if consequences of another persons are unfavourable (punished)
└children are less likely to imitate it

Question 5

Identification

Answer 5

└child identifies (attaches themselves to) with same sex role model
└e.g. parent, teacher, sibling

Question 6

Modelling

Answer 6

└the precise demonstration of a behaviour that may be imitated by an observer

Question 7

Meditational processes

list

Answer 7

Attention
Retention
Motivation
Motor reproduction

Question 8

Social learning explanation of gender development
strengths
summary

Answer 8

Supporting evidence - Smith and Lloyd (1978)

Explains changing gender roles in Western society

Question 9

Social learning explanation of gender development
strengths
Supporting evidence

Answer 9

└ Smith and Lloyd (1978)
└4-6 month old babies were dressed half the time in boys clothes and half the time in girls clothes, regardless of their actual sex
└when adults were observed interacting with the ‘boys’
└gave them a hammer shaped rattle, encouraged them to be adventurous and active
└when adults were observed interacting with the ‘girls’
└gave them a cuddly doll, were told they were pretty, were encouraged to be passive
└suggests gender appropriate behaviour begins at an early age through differential reinforcement
└supports social learning theory

Question 10

Social learning explanation of gender development
strengths
Explains changing gender roles in Western society

Answer 10

└when explaining androgyny, there us a less of a clear distinction between what people regard as masculine and feminine behaviour in our society today that there was in the 1950s
└explained by a shift on social expectations and cultural norms over time
└=new forms of acceptable gender behaviour have been reinforced
└as there has been no corresponding change in peoples biology within the same period
└the shift is better explained by the social learning theory than the biological theory

Question 11

Social learning explanation of gender development
limitations
summary

Answer 11

Not a developmental theory - Andrew Dubin (1992)
Comparison with the biological approach
Comparison with the psychodynamic approach

Question 12

Social learning explanation of gender development
limitations
Not a developmental theory

Answer 12

└social learning theory doesn’t provide an adequate explanation of how learning processes change with age
└age limitations
└e.g. the meditational process of motor reproduction- children may struggle to perform behaviours if not physically or intellectually capable
└however, the general implication is that modelling of gender appropriate behaviour can occur at any age (form birth)
└Andrew Dubin (1992)
└suggested children may take bot of behaviour of same sex role models at an early age
└however selection and imitation of these behaviours does not occur till later
└=consistent with Kohlberg’s theory that children don’t become active in their gender development until gender constancy
└the influence of age on learning gender concepts is not considered by social learning theory= limitation

Question 13

Social learning explanation of gender development
limitations
Comparison with the biological approach

Answer 13

└social learning theory considers role of environment on gender development
└doesn’t emphasise role of genes and chromosomes
└biosocial theory of gender
└innate biological differences between boys and girls
└that are reinforced through social interaction and cultural expectations

Question 14

Social learning explanation of gender development
limitations
Comparison with the psychodynamic approach

Answer 14

└Freud would accept the key influence of the same sex parent in the SLT
└however he would emphasise importance of unconscious forces in determining gender development
└instead of the SLTs conscious meditational processes