AO1 - SLT Explanation of Gender

• According to the Social Learning Theory (SLT) most behaviours are learned through a process of observation and imitation. Reinforcement also plays a part in whether people choose to imitate others or not.
• The Social Learning Theory (SLT) acknowledges the role that the social context plays in gender development.
• The Social Learning Theory (SLT) draws attention to the influence of the environment in shaping gender development. This supports the nurture debate.
• Studies from the Social Learning Theory (SLT) show that we are more likely to imitate people if the behaviour is rewarded, this can be direct or vicariously through a role model.
• Direct reinforcement such as praise, attention or encouragement can be used to help children develop stereotypical gender appropriate behaviour.
• Indirect reinforcement (vicarious) promotes gender appropriate behaviour by rewarding another person's behaviour, which is subsequently imitated.
• The Social Learning Theory (SLT) explains gender development by emphasising the importance of other people in the learning of gender roles.
• According to the Social Learning Theory (SLT) learning takes place through observation and imitation. Modelling can also play an important role in gender development.
• Modelling in the Social Learning Theory (SLT) is the precise demonstration of a behaviour that may be imitated by an admiring observer.
• Children who identify with role models are more likely to imitate their gender specific behaviour.
• According to the SLT the understanding of gender roles is the product of observational learning. Once children are aware of their own gender, they begin to imitate the behaviour that they see as most appropriate.
• Children will imitate both gender appropriate and gender inappropriate behaviour, but the way this is reinforced by others will determine which behaviours they choose to imitate again.
• Role models are the people that children take the most notice of as they often aspire to be like them. Initially parents are the primary role models for children as they observe their gender roles at home.
• Gender appropriate behaviour can be directly reinforced by parents or family members by encouraging specific behaviours at home.
• Fagot (1978) observed children at home playing with parents and found that boys and girls were reinforced for different behaviours. Boys were positively reinforced for playing with male toys and were punished for playing with female toys such as dolls.
• Fagot (1978) supports the claim that parents shape gender appropriate behaviour, suggesting that girls are positive reinforced to take on female gender roles, whereas boys are positively reinforced to take on male gender roles.
• Langlois & Downs (1980) found that when children were playing with opposite gender toys, their same-sex friends were less tolerant than their mothers. They found that boys were often made fun of by their peers.
• Maccoby (1990) found evidence that young children often play together in same-sex pairs or groups and avoid mixing with the opposite sex during play. This suggests that gender behaviour is likely to be influenced by interactions with others, and this begins in childhood.
• Children can be influenced by indirect reinforcement through observing others, who are being reinforced, such as siblings or peers. This is known as vicarious reinforcement.
• Vicarious reinforcement can encourage gender appropriate or gender inappropriate behaviour.
• The Social Learning Theory (SLT) was proposed by Bandura (1961) as a result of his experiments into observational learning and modelling.
• Bandura (1977) suggested 4 cognitive processes which were central to social learning theory; attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.
• The stages of social learning outlined by Bandura (1977) can be used to help explain how children acquire gender appropriate behaviours.
• In Bandura (1977) the stage of attention explains that children are most likely to pay attention to a same-sex model.
• The stage of retention in Bandura (1977) suggests the children have the ability to form a mental representation of the observed behaviour and recall it at a later date.
• In the reproduction stage of Bandura (1977) children use the mental representation of the observed behaviour, which they have stored in their memory and put it into practise.
• In Bandura (1977) the motivation stage argues that the child needs to be motivated in order to model the behaviour they have observed.
• Fagot & Leinbach (1989) used a longitudinal study of gender development to find a tendency for parents to encourage gender stereotypical behaviour in their children.
• Fagot et al (1992) measured the effects of parenting style and children's later gender roles. They found children in traditional families tended to use gender labels much earlier and showed more gender role stereotyping.