Outline And Evaluate The Cognitive Explanations Of Gender Essay

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Outline and evaluate the cognitive explanations of gender. Martin and Halverson proposed in their gender schema theory that the development of a child’s gender is induced by their readiness to categorise gender information. This gender information is organised into schemas which are effective in organising the information as a means of using it to interpret new gender related experiences. Such interpretation will be of knowledge pertaining to gender type activities and behaviour. Where schemas are an essential aspect of Martin and Halverson’s theory, a major concern involves the lack of explanation regarding how such schemas are originally acquired. Even with such an issue schemas are still effective for outlining how children learn what behaviour…show more content…
different clothing) This explanation parallels Piaget’s cognitive development theory in which a child’s mental processes are said to become increasingly sophisticated as they age. The child obtains 2 important mental abilities; conservation which is where children realise that an object stays the same even if it looks different, and decentration which is the child’s ability to take perspectives of other people, losing their egocentricity and understanding how another child’s gender develops in the same way as their own. Children develop their ability to organize objects and ideas which help identify what is considered typical male or female behaviour for them and others. This results in the child paying more attention to same sex behaviour. After they recognise the type of behaviour they should be following, they are more likely to internalise such behaviours through self-socialisation, giving them an idea of how their sex should interact with other
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