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GENDER - SOCIAL LEARNING EXPLANATION - Coggle Diagram
GENDER - SOCIAL LEARNING EXPLANATION
SLT - all behaviour (including gender) is learned from observing others - nurture shapes gender development
significant others - e.g. peers/teachers
Direct Reinforcement
Behaviour is more likely to be reinforced if behaviour is gender appropriate - more likely to be rewarded for gender appropriate behaviour
e.g. boys encouraged to engage in rough + tumble play - will be rewarded for this behaviour because it is what boys should do
More likely to be punished for gender inappropriate behaviour - e.g. boys playing with dolls
Reinforced behaviours = repeated
Punished behaviours = not repeated
Through reinforcement, children learn their gender identity
Differential Reinforcement
Encouraged to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour
Boys + girls are encouraged to show different behaviours
Indirect (vicarious reinforcement)
Observing the consequences of another persons behaviours
if the individual if rewarded = behaviour is more likely to be imitated
E.g. little girl hears her mum being complimented for wearing makeup + a pretty dress = girl will copy this when she is able
Little boy sees a classmate being called 'sissy' for being feminine = learns not to copy this behaviour
Identification + Modelling
Identification
- More likely to imitate those who are like us/we can identify with
Role models
- parents, peers, teachers - Usually high status, attractive, same sex as the child
Modelling
- demonstration of behaviour - e.g. mother models stereotypical cleaning/tidying behaviour
Little girl copies her mother by setting the table or 'feeding' her doll - she is modelling the behaviour she witnessed
Mediational processes
Attention
- Little boy pays close attention and watches his favourite premier league player, he wants to emulate him
Retention - remembers the skills he did on the pitch + tried to reproduce these
Motivation - motivated to be like his hero
Motor Reproduction
- is he capable of psychically performing the skill
Supporting Evidence - Smith + Lloyd
Observed mothers playing with an infant who was either presented as a boy (in terms of name + clothing) or as a girl - e.g. a baby boy dressed up as a girl + present them to a mother
The mothers selected gender appropriate toys + also showed increases motor activity when the child was presented as a boy
This shows us that gender appropriate behaviour is stamped from an early age
Supporting Evidence - Perry + Bussey
Showed film clips to children aged 8-9
In the film, boys were seen as either selecting an apple or a pear - aka both gender neutral items
Later the children were given the choice of fruit
Boys selected the fruit they had seen another boy selecting + the same happened with the girls
This shows how social learning occurs from peers + how gender roles may be reinforced through vicarious reinforcement
Reductionist Theory
Ignores the role of biology
Case study of David Reimer
shows the power of biology - you cannot socialise a child to be masculine/feminine - supports the influence of testosterone on gender development as it show's David's brain development was influenced by the presence of this hormone + its effect on gender identity was stronger than the influence of social factors - he went back to being a boy after he found out his penis was cut off during surgery and had been raised as a girl in his teens
Cultural Bias
All studies conducted in the West, even the studies to support it = western
If we were to conduct it in other cultures, would we get the same results?
This questions the validity of the theory, because if the supporting studies lack validity, then the overall theory lacks validity