social learning theory

• social learning theory of gender development

  • children gain gender development and ideas about what is gender-appropriate behaviour through key social learning concepts of vicarious reinforcement, identification and modelling, children are more likely to be reinforced (praised and encouraged) for demonstrating behaviour that is stereotypically gender-appropriate
• differential reinforcement

  • boys are encouraged to be active and confident, girls rewarded for being shy and gentle
  • this is called differential reinforcement this is how a child learns their gender identity
  • a child is more likely to repeat a behaviour that has been reinforced
• vicarious reinforcement

  children will be more likely to imitate behaviour that they see being rewarded, for example if a girl sees her mother receive a compliment when she wears make up - a girl may want to try and repeat this behaviour

  if the consequence of the behaviour is a punishment the behaviour is less likely to be repeated - girl sees her mum being shouted at for lifting heavy things
• modelling

  • a child observes a person who is seen to be like them or a person they want to be (role model) parents, teachers, siblings (usually same gender) - identify with them
  • behaviour is observed and imitated
• mediational processes

  • imitation cannot take place if the child does not go through mediational processes
  • attention - boy may want to imitate a footballer by paying attention to what he does
  • retention - remembering skills footballer showed on the pitch
  • motivation - desire to repeat behaviour comes from wanting to be like his hero
  • motor reproduction - boy must be physically capable of doing it
• strength

  • key principles are supported by evidence
  • study involving babies aged 4-6 months who were dressed half the time in boys clothes and half the time in girls clothes, when observed interacting with adults, babies assumed to be a boy were more likely to be given a hammer shaped rattle, when dressed as girls they were more likely to be handed a cuddly doll
  • suggests that gender appropriate behaviour is reinforced at an early age through differential reinforcement supporting slt
• limitation

  • ignores role of biological factors in gender development
  • adults interactions with their children may simply be responding to innate gender differences that are already there, observation that boys are encouraged to be more active during play may be a consequence of the fact that they are naturally more active anyway due to higher levels of testosterone
  • likely that social learning is only part of the explanation of how children acquire gender-related behaviours and biology may play a role
• strength

  • social learning can explain cultural changes in gender-appropriate behaviour
  • less clear distinction between what people regard as masculine and feminine behaviours in many societies today than there was in the 1950s, but no corresponding change in people's basic biology within the same period, change in people's views of gender behaviour is better explained by slt, shift in societal expectations means some behaviours that were previously punished are now more likely to be rewarded eg women being independent
  • can explain cultural changes in gender
• limitation

  • does not provide adequate explanation on how learning processes change with age
  • general suggestion of slt is that modelling of gender-appropriate behaviour can occur at any age, however seems illogical that children who are 2 years old learn in the same way as children who are 9, conflicts with kohlbergs theory that children do not become active in their gender development until they reach gender constancy at the age of 6
  • influence of age on learning gender concepts is not a facotr considered by slt