1. Jamie Coulson, Elime Shrewsbury and Sofia Wiseman

2. A01 The gender schema theory (a psychological explanation of gender development) is a development of Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory, hence resolving some of the issues with the earlier theory (i.e. the substantial amount of evidence contradicting Kohlberg). Schemas are mental frameworks that help us to effectively process and understand information by organising this information (alike a stereotype); they also allow us to predict what action to take in certain situations. Gender schema theory states that gender identity develops via both cognitive and social processes, and (unlike Kohlberg) doesn’t imply that children must first know that gender is permanent in order to develop gender schema.

3. A01… The child’s gender schema develops around the age of 2- 3 years old, once the child recognises the differences between boys and girls and can label the two groups reliably. Having developed the gender schema, the child then seeks evidence (e.g. in aesthetics) to support the gender schema. MARTIN AND HALVERSON ‘in-group, out group’ ‘own-sex’ schema. For instance, a girl may begin identifying toys which are specifically for the in- group (a doll for a girl) or out-group (a train for a boy) and then develop the ‘own-sex’ schema by thinking “A doll is for girls, I am a girl, A doll is therefore for me”. These schemas help children to interpret and organise their experience- simplifying the world around them (very much like a stereotype). MARTIN AND HALVERSON suggested that there are 2 types of sex-related schema: the ‘in-group, out group’ schema and the ‘own-sex’ schema. For instance, a girl may begin identifying toys which are specifically for the in- group (a doll for a girl) or out-group (a train for a boy) and then develop the ‘own-sex’ schema by thinking “A doll is for girls, I am a girl, A doll is therefore for me”. These schemas help children to interpret and organise their experience- simplifying the world around them (very much like a stereotype).

4. A01… If gender schemas ceased to exist and we did not categorise information and make generalisations based on this information (e.g. about what boys like and what girls like), we would fail to manage our lives effectively. These processes of simplification are necessary for children (exposed to an continuous stream of new, foreign information and novel input) in order for them to make sense of the complexities of their environment and society. The gender schema developed by a child is culture- specific (as they are primarily developed for the child to make sense of their particular culture and society), therefore gender schemas will differ across cultures (similar to Kohlberg’s theory in that gender identity will vary according to their culture).

5. Martin and Little (1990). Studied 3-5 year olds. Found that they had a very primitive comprehension of gender, yet they maintained rigid gender stereotypes about what boys and girls were supposed to do (i.e. they did understand gender appropriate behaviour).Therefore, only basic gender understanding is required to affect the child’s gender behaviour. SUPPORTS THE GENDER SCHEMA THEORY…

6. Martin, Eisenbud and Rose (1995) Showed 3-5 year old children toys that they could play with, but before they made their choices, they were informed that the toys were appropriate for either boys or girls. They found that boys would play with the toys that they had been told were meant for boys, and girls would play with the toys that they were told were meant for girls. SUPPORTS THE GENDER SCHEMA THEORY…

7. Eisenbrg et al. (1982) Studied 3-4 year old children When describing toys that other children would like, the children used sex-role-orientated thinking to justify their answers. HOWEVER, they used substantially less of this type of reasoning to rationalise decisions regarding their own, personal toy preferences. Subsequent to a session of ‘free play’, they did not justify their toy choices by referring to gender, but by referring to the toys themselves and what they could physically do. PROBLEMATIC FOR THE GENDER SCHEMA THEORY…