A03

• Point: A strength of the social learning approach is that key principles are supported by evidence.

  For example, Smith and Lloyd (1978) dressed babies aged 4-6 months alternately in boys' and girls' clothes, irrespective of their actual sex.

  When dressed as boys, they were given hammer-shaped rattles and encouraged to be active, while when dressed as girls, they were handed cuddly dolls and reinforced for being passive

  Link: Therefore, this suggests that gender-appropriate behaviour is ingrained at an early age through differential reinforcement, supporting social learning theory.
• :( differential reinforcement may not be sole cause of gender differences in behaviour.

  For example, the observation that boys are encouraged to be more active may be influenced by innate biological differences rather than solely by social reinforcement.

  This means that adults might be responding to pre-existing gender differences during interactions with their children, implying that boys are naturally more active due to hormonal factors.

  Therefore => that social learning theory may only partially explain how children acquire gender-related behaviours, as biological factors also play a role.
• :) is that slt can explain cultural changes in stereotypically gender-appropriate behaviour.

  e.g., the reduction in clear-cut distinctions between masculine and feminine behaviours in recent decades can be better explained by social change than by biological factors.

  This means that shifts in social expectations and cultural norms have led to new forms of gender behaviour being reinforced rather than punished, unlike in the 1950s.

  Therefore=> slt is effective in explaining cultural changes in gender behaviour, complementing cognitive explanations involving schema and stereotypes.
• One limitation is that social learning theory does not provide an adequate explanation of how learning processes change with age.

  For example, the theory implies that gender-appropriate behaviour modelling can occur at any age, conflicting with Kohlberg's theory that active gender development begins at gender constancy.

  This means that it is unrealistic to assume that two-year-olds and nine-year-olds learn gender concepts in the same way, as developmental stages influence learning processes.

  => that slt overlooks the influence of age and maturation on the acquisition of gender concepts.