A01

• Describe gender schemas

  - A generalised mental representation of everything we know about gender and gender-appropriate behaviour derived from experience

  - These schemas help a child make sense of the world as they form stereotypes about the ways that they think males and females behave (i.e. what toys to play with, what to wear, how to act etc.)
• State who developed the gender schema theory

  Carol Martin and Charles Halverson (1981)
• Outline the gender schema theory

  Once a child has established gender identity around the ages of 2-3 years, he or she will begin to search the environment for information that encourages the development of their gender schema
• Outline the similarities between the gender schema theory and Kohlberg's theory

  - A child's thinking is at the basis of their development of gender role behaviours

  - Children's understanding of gender increases with age

  - Children develop their gender understanding by actively structuring their own learning, rather than passively observing and imitating role models
• Outline two factors which differentiate gender schema theory from Kohlberg's theory

  1. Argues that the process of acquiring gender-relevant information happens before gender constancy

  2. Goes further than Kohlberg by suggesting how the acquisition of schemas affects later behaviour (in terms of memory and attention)
• Explain how gender identity leads to in-group and out-group schemas

  Through identifying as a boy or girl, children have a much better understanding of the schemas that relate to their own gender - they view their own group as the 'in-group' and the opposite as 'out-group'
• Describe the difference between in-group and out-group gender schemas

  In-group gender schemas are attitudes and expectations about one's own gender whilst out-group gender schemas are attitudes and expectations about the other gender
• Describe the role in-group and out-group schemas play in gender development

  - In-group identity serves to increase the child's level of self-esteem as they positively evaluate their own group and negatively evaluate outgroups (the other sex)

  - This motivates the child to avoid the behaviour of the opposite sex and actively seek information about their in-group's behaviour acquiring an in-group schema

  - It is not until children are a little older (around 8) that they build more elaborate schemas for both genders
• Explain why children's gender beliefs are resilient

  A child holds rigid and firm gender schemas that are resistant to change, and this drives them to ignore or misremember information that conflicts with their schemas and selectively attend to gender-consistent information