Kohlbergs cognitive explanation

• This theory is based on the ideas that a child’s understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated with age, as the brain matures so does thinking
• stage 1 - gender identity

  around age 2 a child ca identify themselves as a boy or girl, and by 3 can identify other people

  but this is only a label, and they do not understand it is fixed
• stage 2 - gender stability

  at age 4, children understand that their sex will stay the same

  but they cannot apply this logic to others in other situations

  gets confused by external changes in appearance
• stage 3 - gender constancy

  around 6 years

  understand that gender remains constant across time and situations, not confused by external appearance

  understands biological differences
• A strength is the supporting evidence

  slaby and frey interviewed 55 children aged between 2 and 5 to see if they matched the stages proposed by Kohlberg

  the children were asked different questions to assess the gender stages

  they found that the answers the children gave matched the descriptions of the stages suggsted by kohlberg
• a limitaion is methodological problems in supporting research

  the key test of gender constancy is whether a child understands that gender stays the same despite changes in appearance in context

  children would be confused by his as in our culture this is how we identify if someone is a man or women

  so the typical way of testing gender constancy may misrepresent what younger children actually know
• Kohlberg’s theory supports the nature debate, he suggests the understanding of gender is based on brain development. This is supported by cross cultural studies which have shown the cognitive changes may be universal and therefore biological

  However, he feels to account for the socialisation process, children are heavily influenced by role models in their life, and imitation and identification with role models may play a more influential role