All questions are worth 1 mark unless otherwise stated Whose theory is it Which approach does the theory come from Name the three stages and put them in the correct order 3 ID: 548918
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Slide1
Gender consistency theory test
All questions are worth 1 mark unless otherwise
stated.
Whose
theory is it
?
Which approach does the theory come from
?
Name the three stages and put them in the correct
order
(3
marks)
Name the stage in which children realise that gender is permanent and begin to collect information about their gender and start to follow gender appropriate activities.
The
process of a child’s thinking about gender drives their gender socialisation. What is this process called?
Slaby
and Frey’s study
supported a
key idea from the theory – which bit of it did it
support?
Martin
and Little’s research
challenged the
theory – why?Slide2
Gender schema theory (Martin and Halverson, 1983)
Schemas are mental frameworks that help people organise and understand information; they also allow you to predict what to do in certain situations
Gender schema theory argues that gender identity develops through both cognitive and social processes and unlike Kohlberg doesn’t suggest that children need to know that gender is permanent to develop gender schema.
The child’s gender schema develops around 2/3 as soon as the child notices differences between boys and girls and can label the two groups reliably. Having developed the schema, the child then looks for support and evidence to support their schema.
Martin and Halverson suggest that there are two types of sex-related schema: the “in-group out-group” schema and the “own-sex” schema.
So a girl might begin by identifying toys which are for the in-group (a doll for a girl) or out-group (a train or a boy) and then move on to the “own-sex” schema by thinking:-
A doll is for a girl. I am a girl. A doll is for me.Slide3
These schemas help children interpret and organise their experience – schemas simplify the world for us. They are very similar to stereotypes.
If we do not categorise information and make generalisations (e.g. about what boys like and what girls like) on that basis, we simply would not be able to manage our lives effectively. For children exposed to an endless stream of new information and novel input, such processes of simplification are necessary in order to make sense of the complex world
around them
The gender schema that a child develops is appropriate to that child’s culture, so gender schemas will vary from culture to cultureSlide4
Rate these groundings on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 = excellent, 2 = ok, 3 = poor)
Martin
&
Little:
…this supports the theory because it shows that schemas
develop
by the time children reach 3
yrs
old.
Martin
,
Eisenbud
and
Rose:
..this supports the theory as it shows the children are using their ‘own-sex
’
schema.
Eisenberg
et
al:
…this study is problematic for the theory because it shows how children
use ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’
schemas to justify why other children would like certain toys but do not use their ‘own-sex’ schema to justify why they chose to play with the toys.Slide5
IDA – Nature-nurture
Nature: we
innately
organise information in order to make sense of the world around us, children develop gender schemas for this reason.
Nurture:
gender
schemas develop as a result of social and environmental
factors
Emphasises
the role of nurture in gender development.
So what?
logical explanation for why gender stereotypes develop, and creates a more flexible way of explaining a child's understanding of gender than the gender consistency theory.
However, a problem is the theory ignores the role of biological factors in gender development which may lead to a limited understanding
of gender, particularly as there is a wealth of evidence that
suggests genes and hormones play
a role in gender behaviour and identity.Slide6
Other evaluation
Difficulties with researching cognitions and with using children as participants
Supported
by a wealth of research.
Explains why children may have a more rigid view of gender – they do not accept information that goes against their schema.
Difficulties in explaining individual differences – not all children conform to gender stereotypical behaviour.