individual differences

Question 1

how can operant conditioning explain gender development

Answer 1

gender behaviour is shaped through patterns of reinforcement and punishment just like other behaviour
when first born, male and female babies are treated and reinforced differently - little boys are seen as strong big and tough whereas little girls are seen as delicate and sweet
boys will be more rewarded by attention rather than direct rewards for male behaviour and girls for female behaviour
gender behaviour can be learnt through reinforcement and punishment
it can be shaped gradually by reinforcing certain behaviours

Question 2

how can SLT explain gender development

Answer 2

offers an explanation for gender development
gender behaviour can develop through vicarious learning
adopting gender behaviour through observational learning can happen when a child is older
Bandura showed that boys are more likely to imitate males models and that girls copy female models

Question 3

what was Margaret Mead’s study based on

Answer 3

3 new guinea tribes
Arapesh = both genders worked cooperatively, non aggressive, responsive to others, sexual contact not a driving force (feminine)
Mundugmor = both genders ruthless, aggressive, positively sexed (masculine)
Shamble = females dominant and males more dependant

Question 4

are boys and girls more likely to imitate same sex models

Answer 4

• children are exposed to models of both sexes
• bandura bobo doll - the study found that children were more likely to imitate same sex models
• a meta-analysis reviews more than 20 studies looking at this area. found very little evidence that children do actually imitate same sex models more than opposite sex
• barkley, ullman, otto and brecht concluded that same sex modelling is unlikely to account for sex differences in behaviour

Question 5

do parents reinforce gender appropriate behaviour

Answer 5

• fagot observed toddlers aged 20-24 months at home
  fagot found that children were reinforced with smiles, precise, greater attention for activities typically associated with their sex
  girls were positively rewarded for doll play, dressing up and dancing etc
  boys were reinforced for jumping and climbing
• lytton and romney evidence relating to the way that parents treat that males and female children
  found sex typed behaviour was encouraged in both genders but also found many similarities and concluded that it was unlikely that differences in reinforcement could account for acquisition of sex typed behaviour

Question 6

is there evidence of gender stereotyping in the media together with evidence that this influences children

Answer 6

• evan and davies looked at books published in 1997 for children in first, third and fifth grade at school
  results = roughly equal number of males and females portrayed
• frueh and mcGhee interviewed 4-12 years olds about their TV viewing along with their parents and then gave then children a projective measure of sex stereotyping
  a clear relationship was found between the amount of reported TV viewing and the choice of toys