1. Cognitive explanations
Kohlberg’s theory of gender development

2. Forensic psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu44AqF0iI
Homework
Forensic psychology

3. Atypical Sex Chromosomal Patterns
Klinefelter’s – XXY 1:1000 males.
Lower testosterone levels
Broader hips and breast tissue
Infertile
Taller and less muscular
Low sex drive
Normal male genitalia, small testes

4. Turner’s Syndrome XO (missing X chromosme) 1:2000 females
Vagina and womb
Shorter than average and lack of menstruation.
Underdeveloped ovaries
Small lower jaw and webbed neck, narrow hips.

5. Turners syndrome/ Klinefelters syndrome
Complete the additional handout identifying the features of an individual with Klinefelters and Turners syndrome.
Bullet point the main ideas in to your pack (pages 20-21)

6. Starter
What are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach?

7. You are the observers….
observe the differences in the children’s behaviour
Note down what this suggests about gender development

8. Background
His theory “assumes that basic sexual attitudes are not patterned directly by either biological instincts or arbitrary cultural norms, but by the child’s cognitive organisation of his social world along sex-role dimensions” In Kohlberg’s view, boys think “I am a boy, therefore I want to do boy things, therefore the opportunity to do boy things (and to gain approval for doing them) is rewarding” His emphasis, then, is on gender role development as being self-socialised: a child will actively seek out, organise, and then behave in accordance with that information. This contrasts markedly with the view of the child as behaving in a gender-typed way simply because he or she is rewarded – or sees someone else being rewarded – for it. A childs appreciation of – and adherence to – gender roles is dependent on their gender identity, their sense of being male or female.

9. Kohlberg continued…
Kohlberg believed that children can only learn gender-behaviours when they realise that gender is constant, i.e., they cannot change from one to the other. This only happens at age 7. Children develop gender identity at age 3, but this is only a basic understanding. The stages of development are as follows:
Age 2-3: Gender Identity: the child learns which gender they are. They also recognise others as male or female. This is simply based on their physical appearance, so if a boy wears a skirt, he therefore becomes a ‘girl’.
Age 3-7: Gender Stability: the child learns that gender is fixed: males stay male and females stay female. But they still don’t realise that gender stays the same over situations: if a boy acts like a girl he might turn into one!
Age 7-12: Gender Constancy: children now fully understand gender and realise that it stays the same, even if the person looks or behaves differently. If a girl cuts her hair short, she is still a girl. At this stage, children are ready to learn about gender-appropriate behaviours.
This third stage is related to the theory of cognitive development by Jean Piaget. He studied how children’s general thinking develops. His studies demonstrated that children aged under 7 don’t understand that objects remain the same even if they change shape. If you show a child some water in a short, fat glass, then pour it into a tall, thin glass, children under 7 will believe that there is now more water, as the level is higher. Children over 7 realise that there is the same amount of water. This is called conservation and is related to a child’s understanding that gender stays the same, even when appearances change.

10. 3 stages to gender development
Gender Identity: children become able to label themselves and others as boys or girls accurately.
Gender stability: the classification of male/female would remain stable over time (i.e. a boy would grow up to be a daddy, and a girl would grow up to be a mummy).
Gender consistency: In the final gender consistency stage, at around the age of 6 or 7 years, children are judged to have an insight into the constancy of sex regardless of the passage of time, changes in context, or transformations in physical features.

11. Task A: Read the outline of Kohlberg’s theory of gender development.
Participate in the following tasks…
1) Draw a diagram/picture to represent Kohlberg's three stages of development

12. Page 24: answer the following exam qu
gender consistency years
Retain gender for a lifetime label themselves as boys or girls
permanent despite physical appearance
2-3 years gender stability
6-12 years recognise they are male and female
Gender identity rely on superficial signs
Knowledge is fragile classification of male/female would remain stable
Value behaviours and attitudes associated with their gender

13. Kohlberg’s stages of development
Children are active agents in their own gender role socialisation. This means…
When do children collect information about their gender roles, imitate same sex models and follow gender appropriate behaviour?
This is called? Why?

14. Kohlberg’s stages of development
Children are active agents in their own gender role socialisation. This means that their thinking about gender determines when and how they show gender role behaviour
When do children collect information about their gender roles, imitate same sex models and follow gender appropriate behaviour? Once children acquire gender constancy (consistency)
This is called? Why? Self socialisation – does not depend on others but what the child thinks about themself

15. Which stage of gender development are each of these children in?
Carly’s mum likes baking cakes. Her dad likes fixing cars. Carly isn’t interested in fixing cars. She likes to bake cakes with her mum
Harry is out shopping with his mum when someone with long hair passes by. He says to his mum, “Mummy, why has that lady got a beard?”
Mohammed’s dad asked him what he wants to be when he grows up. Mohammed said “I want to be a mummy”
Tanika’s uncle Lloyd likes to dress in women’s clothing when he goes out in the evenings. Tanika tells her friends that Uncle Lloyd is a man when he goes to work, but when he goes out in the evening he is a lady.
Wendy’s brother decided to paint his nails red. Wendy asks him why he is now a girl.
Charlie asks his dad if he was a girl or a boy when he was younger.
Christina doesn’t like the lady who lives across the road because she dresses in men’s clothing. Christina thinks it’s she is a bit odd because she doesn’t look like a woman 
Craig’s friend is going to a salsa dancing class and has asked Craig if he’ll go with him. Craig doesn’t want to go, because Salsa dancing is for girls. He has decided to go to a football match with another friend instead.

16. In pairs…
Describe and evaluate Kohlberg’s explanation of gender development. [16 marks]
Possible content
Possible evaluation point

17. Modal essays Read through the modal essays individually
Highlight the different sections (A01, A02, A03)
Annotate on the essay the strengths and weaknesses.
Using the mark scheme, what grade would you give the essay.
You are the examiner
As a group, identify
Strengths and weaknesses
Final grade (mark out of 16)

18. Response C
There is some knowledge of Kohlberg’s theory of gender development evident, although there is a lack of clarity in parts. For example it is not clear what is meant by ‘gender stability’ from the expansion – “if a child saw a woman in parts they’ll think it is a man”. There is an attempt to evaluate but this is only partly effective. For example, it is not explained why the point about nature/nurture is a strength; and there is no link back to the question with respect to cultural validity. The answer lacks clarity and the meaning is sometimes obscured by poor spelling. There is occasional inappropriate use of specialist terminology eg the first sentence of the last paragraph refers to ‘cognition’ but probably means ‘gender development’. This is a Level 2 answer – the description is largely accurate but lacks sufficient detail and the evaluation is only partly effective. There is a general lack of clarity and precision. Mark awarded = 6

19. Response A
Knowledge of Kohlberg’s explanation of gender development is accurate and contains sufficient detail of the relevant stages. There is a slight inaccurate use of the term ‘self-socialism’ in paragraph 4, but the correct term ‘self-socialisation’ is used later. There is effective evaluative comment, with the points generally explained rather than simply stated. There is also appropriate selection and use of evidence to support Kohlberg (eg Slaby and Frey). The answer is clear and coherent with good use of paragraphing. Specialist terminology is used largely effectively throughout the answer (eg naming of the stages; qualitative nature of the stages; external validity; maturation etc.) and the answer is succinct and focused. This is a Level 4 answer – it contains sufficient knowledge and effective discussion for this level. Mark awarded = 12

20. Response B
Knowledge of Kohlberg’s theory is evident and the three stages are accurate although there is some detail lacking. For example, it is not explained that gender labelling means that a child recognises that s/he is male or female. The description includes some general information about the theory eg being ‘cognitive’ and developing in ‘qualitatively different stages’. The evaluative points are fairly well explained with respect to the theory and the points are therefore effective. The final point regarding underestimating children’s ability to understand gender would have been enhanced with some evidence to support the claim. The answer is coherent and succinct and uses specialist terminology reasonably effectively. This is a Level 3 answer – although the description and evaluation lack sufficient detail for the top level, the answer is well organised and the material is accurate with effective evaluation. Due to the brevity of the answer it is at the lower end of the mark allocation. Mark awarded = 9

21. Task 3 and 4
In your pairs. Improve the points from the responses you identified as weaknesses.
The second stage is gender stability this is where the child believes that gender is fixed across time and not situations. This occurs at the age of 5. For example if a child saw a women in parts they’ll think it’s a man.
A strength of this study is that it provides strength for nature and nurture….
A further criticism of Kohlberg’s theory of gender development is that it is considered a good description of how gender develops but it does not offer any real explanation of how these processes occur.

22. Task
Ground the research that support/refute Kohlberg’s theory of gender development.

23. Evidence: Slaby and Frey (1975)
Set out to determine whether children’s attention to same-sex models was influenced by their level of gender constancy.
55, 2- 5-year-olds.
Used a Gender concept interview
Level of gender constancy was assessed by using a series of fourteen questions and counter-questions.
Children were classified as low on gender constancy if they answered incorrectly on the gender labelling or gender stability items, and otherwise were identified as high on gender constancy.
Children's responses to the questions seemed to support Kohlberg’s sequence of gender identity development
Several weeks after this interview the children were shown a short film showing a man and a woman engaging in simple parallel activities on different sides of the screen. The amount of time that children’s eyes were fixated on each side of the screen was measured.
Children that appreciated the stability of gender were more likely than children with a less mature gender concept to attend to the same sex model on tape.

24. Evidence Martin and Little (1990)
Measured gender concepts, sex-typed preferences and stereotyped knowledge in children aged 3-5.
Gender concept measure included the ability to identify and to discriminate the sexes, understand gender group membership, temporal stability of gender and gender consistency over situational changes.
Only rudimentary gender understanding is needed before children learn about sex stereotypes and show strong sex-type preferences for peers and toys.

25. Evidence Universal sequence of development Munro et al (1984)
cross-cultural findings confirm the three stages.
The sequence of development of the gender concept is similar in other cultures (kenya, Nepal, Belize and Samoa)
Cross culturally, biological development (especially brain maturity) is similar, lending credibility to claims that cognitive maturation is more important than different social experiences in gender concept development.

26. Wider evaluation points
Task
Wider evaluation points

27. Wider evaluation Ages and Stages
Kohlberg’s underestimation of age at which gender identity occurs e.g. children seek out same-sex playmates earlier than the proposed gender identity stage
Bussey and Bandura (1999)
‘long before children have attained gender constancy they prefer to play with traditional toys associated with their gender, to model their behaviour after same-sex models and to reward peers for gender appropriate behaviour.
2 year old boys prefer masculine toys before they have even become aware that these are more appropriate for boys.
Kuhn et al (1978) and Maccoby (1980) found that 3 year olds have learned many gender-role stereotypes and already prefer same-sex activities or playmates long before they begin to attend selectively to same-sex models.
Wehren and Delisi (1983)
Children grasp the concept earlier when applied to themselves than when applied to others.

28. Wider evaluation
Aspects of gender development that the cognitive approach has difficulty explaining
e.g. consistent gender differences.
For example, most studies have found that boys’ thinking about gender is more rigid than girls’ but this is difficult to account for in the cognitive approach.
There are the universal features of gender role that are found in all cultures that suggest that some elements of gender are innate.

29. Wider evaluation – application
Its contribution has primarily been to describe the relevant processes rather than to explain them. Kohlberg’s stages, for example, tell us how children are likely to think at different ages but relatively little about why gender thinking changes in this way.
The reliance on quasi experimental methods is problematic for the same reason. Such studies can tell us that boys and girls think differently or that seven year- olds think differently from four year-olds but do not allow us not make causal inferences about why.
Comparison with other explanations e.g. gender schema theory.

30. Wider evaluation
Another issue is that it may well be that children are at these stages earlier, but because of limits in their language skills they are not able to verbalise this. Therefore it could be less of a theory of gender development and more a theory of the ability to talk about different concepts of gender.
Takes a very broad approach. Not all children have the same understanding of gender and it doesn't account for how gender changes over time. For example, 50 years ago childcare would be primarily the job of women, but nowadays it would seem odd if a father didn't get involved in childcare.

31. IDA Nature vs. nurture debate Determinism Cultural relativity:
Alternative approaches
e.g. biological factors in gender development.