Gender Schema Theory Flashcards
(21 cards)
whats a schema
a mental representation of an aspect of the world
TRUE or FALSE: The Gender Schema supports Kolhbergs theory on gender development
FALSEEEEE
it refutes it
who came up with gender schema theory
Martin and Halverson
is the gender schema theory a cognitive theory
YES MA’AM
what does the gender schema theory propose
children acquire gender relevant information prior to gender consistency just after they identify which gender they are (gender identity)
how do children learn schemas related to gender
through interacting with other children, adults and television programmes
what do children identify overtime
appropriate toys, clothing etc for their gender and overtime will identify how the other gender works. This occurs in stages
where does children schemas come from
- children establish their gender identity at age 2/3. search their environment for info to develop schema
- First schemas relate to activities of the particular sex. Here they’re stereotyping expected behaviours for each gender
- following this they become focused on their own sex, around 5 yrs old. this is because they’ve learnt which behaviours are appropriate. Therefore, change their own, adapting their behaviours to new schema.
- info that is consistent they assimilate whereas info which isn’t consistent isnt encoded
what are the 2 types of schema
IN group schema
OUTgroup schema
what are in-group schemas based on
the group that the child does identify with (viewed positively)
what are outgroup schemas based on
the group the child doesn’t identify with (viewed negatively)
what does the child viewing certain schemas positively and negatively cause the child to become?
it allows them to become more like their own group rather than the other group and to seek further info about their ingroup schemas about what behaviours they should be performing
TRUE or FALSE; do children hold resilience of gender beliefs according to gender schema theory
TRUE
according to gender schema theory children have resilience of gender beliefs, how is this hsown
Children hold fixed beliefs about gender and it can be seen as they do not encode information that isn’t constant with their schema. THis means that gender schema has a profound effect on what is memorised.
for example:
a child may see something that is inconsistent with their gender, they are less likely to recall it correctly often with distortions and inaccuracies
who researched gender schema theory
MARTIN and HALVERSON (1983)
what was the aim of martin and halverson research into gender schema theory
to demonstrate that children do distort inconsistent information to fit their gender schemas
what was the procedure of Martin and Halverson research into gender schema theory
Researchers showed 5 and 6 years old children pictures of people carrying out activities. Sometimes these activities were schema consistent and sometime they were schema-inconsistent. Childrens recall was tested.
what were findings of Martin and Halversons research into gender schema theory
the recall for schema-conssitent images was generally good.
When schema-inconsistent pictures were recalled they were often distorted, so the expected sex was often recalled carrying out the task
(e.g shown a picture of a man in tutu doing ballet, kid will recall it as a women in tutu dancing)
what did martin and halverson conclude from their study into gender schema theory
childeren do use schema to help them to make sense of their world. they will sometimes use schemas to reorganise information so that its consistent with their view of gender
what is a strength of gender schema theory
P: one strength of gender schema theory is that theres research support by martin and halverson
E: they found that children could successfully recall gender consistent info e.g men build hoe, however, couldn’t recall gender inconsistent info e.g women build home
E: this demonstrates the role of ingroup schemas as children are able to hold onto info thats specific to their gender but not for their out-group schema
L: this suggets that gender schema theory accounts for our knowledge of gender development as it explains how kids focus on their gender prior to others
what is a limitation of the gender schema theory
P: A limitation of gender schema theory is that it cannot fully explain gender differences in flexibility of behaviour.
E: For example, it is generally more socially acceptable for girls to engage in male activities than for boys to engage in female ones.
E: This asymmetry in gender role flexibility suggests that social and cultural influences play a stronger role than the theory accounts
L: Therefore, the theory may be incomplete, as it fails to explain why societal expectations impact boys and girls differently in their expression of gender roles
