Memory for gender-consistent and gender-inconsistent event sequences by twenty-five-month-old children.
Gender-schema theory predicts that, based on a rudimentary understanding of gender (e.g., self-labeling), children will invoke gender schemata in the processing of information. In older children, one indication of schematic processing is differential memory for schema-consistent versus schema-inconsistent material. Due to a lack of appropriate measures, evidence of very early use of gender schemata has been limited. In the present study, elicited imitation was used to assess 25-month-old girls' and boys' immediate and delayed recall of sequences depicting female-stereotyped, male-stereotyped, and gender-neutral activities. At immediate and delayed testing, girls showed equivalent levels of recall of all 3 sequence types. Boys showed superior recall of male- relative to female-stereotyped sequences; their recall of gender-neutral sequences was equivalent to that of male-stereotyped ones. Results indicate that, at least for boys, use of gender schemata is evident by 25 months of age. Possible explanations for the absence of a clear effect for girls are discussed.
Bauer
P J
PJ
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455-0345.
D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013240:Stereotyping