Gender consistency theory test   All questions are worth 1 mark unless otherwise stated. Whose theory is it?  Which approach does the theory come from? Name the three stages and put them in the correct order (3 marks) Name the stage in which children realise that gender is permanent and begin to collect information about their gender and start to follow gender appropriate activities. The process of a child’s thinking about gender drives their gender socialisation. What is this process called? Slaby and Frey’s study supported a key idea from the theory – which bit of it did it support?  Martin and Little’s research challenged the theory – why?

Gender schema theory (Martin and Halverson, 1983) Schemas are mental frameworks that help people organise and understand information; they also allow you to predict what to do in certain situations Gender schema theory argues that gender identity develops through both cognitive and social processes and unlike Kohlberg doesn’t suggest that children need to know that gender is permanent to develop gender schema. The child’s gender schema develops around 2/3 as soon as the child notices differences between boys and girls and can label the two groups reliably. Having developed the schema, the child then looks for support and evidence to support their schema. Martin and Halverson suggest that there are two types of sex-related schema: the “in-group out-group” schema and the “own-sex” schema. So a girl might begin by identifying toys which are for the in-group (a doll for a girl) or out-group (a train or a boy) and then move on to the “own-sex” schema by thinking:- A doll is for a girl. I am a girl. A doll is for me.

These schemas help children interpret and organise their experience – schemas simplify the world for us. They are very similar to stereotypes. If we do not categorise information and make generalisations (e.g. about what boys like and what girls like) on that basis, we simply would not be able to manage our lives effectively. For children exposed to an endless stream of new information and novel input, such processes of simplification are necessary in order to make sense of the complex world around them The gender schema that a child develops is appropriate to that child’s culture, so gender schemas will vary from culture to culture

Martin, Eisenbud and Rose: Rate these groundings on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 = excellent, 2 = ok, 3 = poor) Martin & Little: …this supports the theory because it shows that schemas develop by the time children reach 3 yrs old. Martin, Eisenbud and Rose: ..this supports the theory as it shows the children are using their ‘own-sex’ schema. Eisenberg et al: …this study is problematic for the theory because it shows how children use ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’ schemas to justify why other children would like certain toys but do not use their ‘own-sex’ schema to justify why they chose to play with the toys.

IDA – Nature-nurture Nature: we innately organise information in order to make sense of the world around us, children develop gender schemas for this reason. Nurture: gender schemas develop as a result of social and environmental factors Emphasises the role of nurture in gender development. So what? logical explanation for why gender stereotypes develop, and creates a more flexible way of explaining a child's understanding of gender than the gender consistency theory. However, a problem is the theory ignores the role of biological factors in gender development which may lead to a limited understanding of gender, particularly as there is a wealth of evidence that suggests genes and hormones play a role in gender behaviour and identity.

Other evaluation Difficulties with researching cognitions and with using children as participants Supported by a wealth of research. Explains why children may have a more rigid view of gender – they do not accept information that goes against their schema. Difficulties in explaining individual differences – not all children conform to gender stereotypical behaviour.