PSYC 4220 1st Edition Lecture 23 Outline of Last Lecture I II III Gender Typed Behavior Perspectives on Gender Biological Perspectives on Gender Social Learning Outline of Current Lecture I II III Social Learning in Gender Gender Schema Theory Physical Development in Middle Childhood A Body Growth B Malnutrition and Obesity Current Lecture Perspectives on Gender Social Learning Gender roles develop through reinforcement punishment and observational learning imitation Direct tuition reinforcing appropriate behaviors punishing inappropriate ones o Even before 2 Parents reinforce children for gender congruent behavior Parents who do this most kids who label own gender earlier have stronger genderrelated preferences have greater understanding of gender stereotypes o Fathers do this more than mothers Starting in preschool parents reduce direct tuition and peers take over 2 year olds critical of kids playing with opposite gender toys Kids are not just watching their own gender to learn gender roles they also look at models of the opposite gender to determine what not to do to fit in to their gender category Kids also learn about gender by watching and imitating people Evidence kids more likely to play with toy if same sex model played with it this is done with gender neutral or unfamiliar toys that don t already have a gender stereotype Evidence parents who are less traditional have kids less aware of stereotyped mom goes to work and mows lawn dad stays home and cleans and cooks Children with opposite sex siblings often less gender stereotyped The media still very gender stereotyped o Kids shows tend to have a male main character that is very good at problem solving being funny and being a leader while the secondary female characters are usually obsessed with makeup and shopping need saving and are very passive o Thus the more a child watches TV the likelier they are to be very rigid in gender stereotypes o The commercials that are presented during kids shows are also super gender stereotyped o i e my little pony and easy bake oven have all girls playing and everything is pink and sparkly with beautiful flowy music while Tonka truck commercials are fast loud and have blue green and red colors Perspectives on Gender Gender Schema Theory Gender role development occurs as children create gender schemas organized set of beliefs and expectations about males and females understanding what is it and what behaviors and characteristics fit with each gender They influence what we pay attention to and what we remember We tend to pay more attention to and remember the things that fit the schemas we have As soon as they figure out there are two schemas they will begin to assimilate things to both schemas Next they form in group out group schema o Label some things as for own gender and some things as for other gender o i e things that are seen as part of the opposite schema out group those things will be considered more negatively or badly Children shown unfamiliar gender neutral toys more likely to say they liked toys labeled as for their gender Last create own sex schema o More detailed knowledge about activities and behaviors of own sex that allow one to perform those behaviors i e boys hate cooking because it is for girls so he wants nothing to do with it He ignores it completely and wants nothing to do with it and focuses more on football He wants to learn everything about it and be good at it while he is focusing on that he becomes increasingly worse at cooking and eventually he will be so bad at cooking that he will only like it less and be so good at football that he will like it more Over time as these pulls towards boy or girl activities happen the noticeable difference between gender becomes more pronounced Physical Development in Middle Childhood Chapter 9 Body Growth Continues at slow pace 2 3 inches 5 lbs per year By age 9 girls taller heavier than boys The only time in the lifespan when girls are bigger o This is due to the fact that girls will start puberty before boys so they start the adolescent growth spurt first and will shoot up faster o They start their adolescent growth spurt about 2 years earlier o Girls start growing earlier but also stop growing earlier girls done by about age 16 and at 94 by age 12 o Boys grow till about 18 or 20 and only at 84 at age 12 Worldwide variations in size Due to genetic environmental factors Shorter and thinner in hot tropical climates and people in colder climates tend to be taller and bigger People in developed countries tend to grow taller due to access to food and medical care People who move from less developed to more developed countries tend to be taller Bones thicken broaden o Muscle strength increases o Ligaments loosely connected o Very flexible kids Primary teeth lost permanent teeth come in Girls tend to lose first tooth at about age 6 and will have lost all of them by about 11 or 12 It sometimes takes boys a little longer Malnutrition and Obesity Need well balances diet with many veggie fruits whole grains Kids will admit feeling more sluggish after eating junk food and not being able to focus as well in school Children whose parents don t have enough money to provide them with the appropriate nourishment suffer from this reduces IQ slow physical growth creates poor motor coordination and inattention This is why programs have been introduced to break the cycle of poverty and help them to better themselves by giving them breakfast and lunch in school free or reduced Obesity body weight 20 above average weight for age height It is hard to measure this with kids because they will grow up and then grow wide and then up and then wide and if they are in a wide phase they may seemingly be obese but are really just in a growth phase 1 out of 8 kids in US This rate has triples since 1960 We are starting to get a handle on this issue a little bit because they rate is decreasing slightly Negative effects more likely to be overweight as an adult likelihood increases with age o If in preschool or middle school they are overweight there is a really good chance that they will be overweight as adults High BP heart disease diabetes earlier puberty for girls Social emotional school problems getting made fun of less likely to be able to participate in certain things Obesity o o o o o o o o Causes Genetics Kids that are obsess are much likelier to have an obese parent Concordance weight for obesity in identical twins more likely for both twins to be