Gender Development and Research Methods

What is preferential looking in gender category research?

Observing looking time at stimuli to see if infants distinguish sexes.

What is habituation in gender category research?

Showing a stimulus until interest is lost, then changing it to see recovery.

What is sequential touching?

Analyzing touching patterns of objects or faces to demonstrate categorization skills.

What can 6-month-old infants do regarding gender?

Distinguish between male and female faces, unless cultural cues like hairstyles are removed.

Until what age are children's categorization skills limited to broad levels like animals vs vehicles?

Until 22 months of age.

At what age do children categorize themselves and others into gender categories?

By 2 to 3 years of age.

What is essentialism?

The belief that category members share an inherent, non-obvious 'essence'.

What is gender essentialism?

The belief that all men or women share innate underlying features.

What is the switched-at-birth task?

A procedure where children are asked about a child raised by the opposite sex.

What do switched-at-birth task results show about essentialism?

All children match biological qualities to sex; children show strong essentialism before age 9.

What are Kohlberg's three stages of gender constancy?

Self-labeling (2-3y), gender stability (4-5y), and gender consistency (6-7y).

What was Sandra Bem's criticism of Kohlberg's theory?

Kohlberg's tasks were too difficult; with better methods, consistency appears by age 3.

What is bottom-up processing?

Data-driven perception where perception directs cognition.

What is top-down processing?

Perception that is constructed by cognition.

What is gender-differentiated attention?

Greater interest in own-gender actions, objects, and toys by young children.

When do most errors in identifying actor sexes occur?

84% of errors occur on pictures depicting gender-atypical activity.

How do children remember gender-role-consistent information?

They remember own-sex and typical info better, often distorting atypical information.

What cognitive errors occur with gender categories?

Exaggerating contrasts, attributing differences to gender, and overusing the normative male default.