Unit 3: Gender: Psych exp.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY (CDT)
1. KOHLBERG: Gen. Dev. occurs as children (C) mature and interact with the environment, forming an increasingly complex+accurate understanding of their bodies+the world around them
  1. 3 STAGES
    1. GENDER IDENTITY (GI) (2-3.5) CORRECT LABELLING: C recog. that s/he is boy/girl, can label others as B/G, make judgements on ext. features such as clothes and hair
      1. GENDER STABILITY (GS) (3.5-4.5) BASIC AWARENESS: can correctly answer Q's, "When you grow up, will you be M/D?" Heavily influenced by ext. features. I.e. boy says he is a G if wearing dress.
        GENDER CONSTANCY (GC) (4.5-7) GEN WON'T CHANGE: C realises that someone stays the same biological sex even though diff. clothes or diff. hair. BEM-to reach this level of und. basic genital diff. between M/F
        Once C has strong sense of gender is permanent (often 5), highly motivated to behave in way that is exp. of them, predicts that they pay att. to same-sex role models+show gender appropriate beh. (GAB)
        Eval: I-Evid. for stages. E-SLABY+FREY-Q's+Observed children of various ages, findings supp. E-C were shown film, M+W on opp. sides. Children rated as having (+)GC=(+) watching same gender models. E-Appropriate for age group, simple+unobtrusive-ethically acceptable as harmless.E-MUNROE-found sequence of GD consistent across other cultures (Kenya, Nepal, Belize, Samoa) L-This suggests that dev. on gen. is universal+TF further supports KOHLBERG's theory of GD.
        Eval: I-Conflicting evid. E-MARTIN+LITTLE-Measured gender concepts, sex-type preferences & stereotypes in 3-5 year olds. Found that despite basic gender und., very strong gender stereotypes about what M+F were permmited to do. Goes against Kohlberg's theory as it suggests only basic understanding needed. E-THOMPSON-children as young as 2 could categorise items as belonging to either M/F, thus showing understanding of gender before constancy. L-Raises doubts as to when a child becomes concerned about GAB.
GENDER SCHEMA THEORY (GST): Sugg. children are motivated to begin to acquire knowledge about their gender much earlier than exp.
1. Gender Schema (GS) begins to develop as soon as child notices between M/F, knows own gender+can label between 2 groups. Normally achieved by 2 or 3
  1. Begin with simple In-group & out-group schema, contains gen. info. about M+F categories. I.e. train=M, Long hair=F
    1. 4-6 child forms an own-schema, based on beh., traits+roles app. for them. Will develop with exp. I.e. doll is for girl.
      1. Start off very basic, M+F. As more exp. then 'Things M wears' to things M do'. Eventually will be able to dev. new categories. "Things M+F do" allows children to store new info.+interpret new experience. States that will become less stereotyped+more flexible in their views of gender as they get older
2. Eval: I-Supp. research from MARTIN. E-Showed toys to children aged 4-5 years, informed whether it was M or F toy before being allowed to choose. FOUND: If given M label= M choose. If F label=F choose. Supp. the idea affect our behaviour. E-Cannot be entirely sure, may be social desirability, please adults. L-TF while this research supp. GST, method. issues such as demand characteristics undermine validity of evid.
3. Eval: I-PA E-LIBEN+SIGNORELLA-showed young C pictures of adults engaging in activities associated with opp. sex. For example male nurse, when Q'd later on, insisted F. E-Studying gender stereotypes provides useful ino about how our society perceives M+F. They can inform policies to iron out marginalisation of women/ L-TF GST is useful because it can bring about social change.
4. Eval: I-Conflicting evid. E-Psych exp. of gender close relationship between gender awareness=gender typed behaviour, but research does not find this so. ARCHER Girls tend to have more flexible concepts of gender than boyss, tendency to engage in behaviours associated with boys. E-ID can be explained by ALT exp. BENENSON-Suggests that there may be a evol basis for stronger gender schemata in boys, in our evol past, M more under pressure to form bonds for success in hunting. Meant survival of whole group. L-TF Psych exp. are gender biased, suggesting that M+Fdevelop understanding in similar way, however evol. theory suggests there may be imp. gender diff. that need to be taken into account.

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Unit 3: Gender: Psych exp.

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	Created by Patrick Calvento about 8 years ago