slt

• Identification


  The process whereby a child associates themself to a person who is seen to be 'like me' or to a person who 'I want to be'. The person possesses qualities that the child sees as desirable.
• Role models


  People who the child identifies with, may be part of the child's immediate environment (parents, teachers, siblings, etc.) or may be present within the media, such as pop stars or sports stars. Role models tend to be attractive, high status and are usually the same gender as the child.
• Mediational processes


  Mental (cognitive) factors that intervene in the learning process to determine whether a new behaviour is acquired or not. The four mediational processes proposed by Bandura are attention (whether we notice the behaviour), retention (whether we remember the behaviour), reproduction (whether we are able to perform the behaviour), and motivation (whether the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs).
• Modelling


  Children observe the typical behaviours of many examples of both sexes and store this information as cognitive representations. They pay particular attention to behaviours performed most frequently and most consistently by same sex models (who they identify with the most). These behaviours are then imitated. It's important to note that children must have an understanding of which sex they are before this can take place.
• Vicarious reinforcement


  Children learn the consequences of behaviours that they observe in others and this affects the likelihood that they will imitate the behaviour themselves.
• Enactive experience


  As soon as a child is able, they start to perform gender related behaviour and are reinforced/punished for this.
• Differential reinforcement


  Refers to the fact that children are reinforced differently (e.g. a boy may be reinforced for a behaviour but a girl may not be despite performing the same behaviour).
• Fagot and Leinbach (1995) found that 4 year olds displayed more gender role stereotyping and used gender labels earlier in 'traditional' families where dad worked and mum cared for children at home, compared to 'alternative' families where parents shared childcare. This suggests that parents do act as gender role models for their children.
• Outcome expectancies - mental representations


  Are generated based on the reinforcements received (directly and vicariously). These then regulate future behaviour as the child knows what to expect if and when they perform a particular behaviour.
• the mental representations determian - Self-efficacy

  The child's belief in their own ability to succeed in a certain situation- this is a motivator to do/not do something as children want to feel good about themselves.
• Block (1979) found that boys are positively reinforced more for imitating behaviours reflecting independence, self reliance and emotional control, while girls are reinforced more for dependence, nurturance, empathy and emotional expression. This suggests that SLT can explain why males and females acquire different gender roles.
• Huston (1983) found that parents believe they respond equally to aggressive acts by sons and daughters, but actually respond more frequently and quickly to girls being aggressive, demonstrating how parents treat children in gender biased ways.
• Bandura argued that eventually children start to self regulate more in terms of their gender behaviour, and this becomes more important than external reinforcement from parents and peers.
• Peers


  An important group in terms of gender development as this is where the child is likely to learn through modelling. Children are more likely to imitate same-sex models. Peers act as models for appropriate behaviour, but also provide reinforcement in the form of feedback when a child goes beyond what is considered gender appropriate behaviour.
• Maccoby (1990) reported that children quickly associate with playmates of the same sex, congregating and dividing themselves into same-gender groups and resisting attempts to interact with opposite-gender children. This supports the idea that gender differences emerge as a result of interaction in peer settings.
• Perry and Bussey (1979) showed film clips to children aged 8 and 9, where boys and girls were seen selecting an apple or a pear (both gender neutral). Later, the children were given a choice of fruit and selected the fruit they had seen their same-sex model select. This supports the idea that we learn about gender appropriate behaviour through the observation of models.
• Langlois and Downs (1980) found that peers were less tolerant than mothers of pre-schoolers playing with opposite-gender toys, supporting the idea of peers being a stronger influence on gender development than parents.
• SLT can explain cultural changes in stereotypically gender-appropriate behaviour. There is less of a clear-cut distinction between what people regard as stereotypically masculine and feminine behaviour in many societies compared to the 1950s, for example. As there has been no shift in people's basic biology in this time, such a shift is much better explained by social learning theory than the biological approach. The shift in social expectations and cultural norms has meant that new forms of gender behaviour are now unlikely to be punished and may be reinforced.
• SLT does not consider how gender changes with age unlike a 'stage' approach to explaining gender development – e.g. it is NOT a stage theory of gender development. SLT suggests there are NO DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES. However, SLT does infer that we can be influenced by the principles of observational learning at any point during our development.
• SLT cannot explain gender differences between same-sex siblings. For example, two brothers may be raised by the same parents in the same way, but one turns out to be more masculine than the other, which would suggest more of a biological influence on gender development.
• Differential reinforcement may not be the cause of gender differences in behaviour. Adults, during their interactions with their children, may be responding to innate gender differences that already exist. For example, the observation that boys are encouraged to be more active during play may be a consequence of the fact they are naturally more active, due to hormonal differences. This suggests that it is likely that social learning is only part of the explanation of how children acquire gender-related behaviours.