AO1

• The term schema refers to concept clusters that a child acquires in relation to gender, such as gender stereotypes.
• Children develop schema about gender appropriate behaviour, which helps them to organize and interpret their experience. They help children about gender what toys are appropriate and behaviours
• The key difference between gender schema behaviour and Kohlberg’s view lies in the stage that the child is motivated to acquire knowledge about their gender
• Martin and Halverson place far more emphasis on the development of schemas, as opposed to Kohlberg.
• Halverson suggest that after a child begins to identify with a certain gender, around the age of 2 years old, they then actively seek out information and new experiences to help them confirm these beliefs, through increasingly sophisticated gender schemas. This is in contrast with Kohlberg, who believed that this ‘searching’ only occurs after stage 3 of gender constancy had been reached.
• The development of children’s gender identity schema creates an ‘ingroup’ (their own gender) and an ‘outgroup’ (other genders)
• Children between the ages of 3 and 7 years will generally only identify with their own ingroup, due to the self-esteem they gain from this, but develop an equal appreciation of the other outgroup at the age of 8.