Enculturation

Question 1

Enculturation definition

Answer 1

the processes, beginning in early childhood, by which particular cultural values, ideas, beliefs, and behavioural patterns are adopted by the members in society

Question 2

Explain enculturation

Answer 2

• a significant part of the development of our personal identity is the learning & maintenance of the behaviours & norms of our own culture
• babies are not born w a ‘culture’, they develop an understanding of the language, values & expectations of the culture through interacting with individuals who are a part of that culture
• It is a constant process that reinforces an individuals identity as a member of their culture.

Question 3

Effect of enculturation on cognition and behaviour

Answer 3

• refers to attitudes about social relationships, gender roles, time orientation, beliefs about health & illnesses, & beliefs about mortality
• also referred to as cultural norms

Question 4

How enculturation happens

Answer 4

• Enculturation can occur through direct tuition: individual is told what they are supposed to do
  
  • Social cog (observational learning) plays a role in this development: we learn behaviour from models in our society through observational learning and vicarious reinforcement
• participatory learning is also important: individuals actively engage in the learning process and apply that learning to other situations.
• cultural transmission: The passing down of cultural norms from one generation to another.
  
  • the mechanism of enculturation is cultural transmission

Question 5

Fagot aim

Answer 5

to investigate the role that parents may play in gender-role development

Question 6

Fagot method

Answer 6

an overt naturalistic observation & interviews in which she found that parents may communicate information to their children about appropriate gender role behaviour without being aware of what they are doing

Question 7

Fagot procedure

Answer 7

Observers used an observation checklist of 46 child behaviours & 19 reactions by parents.
were five 60-min observations completed for each family over a 5-week period.
observer used time sampling, making note of the child’s behaviour every 60 secs & then noting the parents’ response.
2 observers were used
The agreement between the two observers on the child’s behavior was 0.93 & for parents’ reaction 0.83.
After, each parent was asked to rate the 46 behaviours as more appropriate for girls, for boys or neutral.
Each parent also filled out a questionnaire on the socialization of sex roles.

Question 8

Fagot results

Answer 8

Boys were more likely to be left alone by their parents than girls.
• Parents gave boys more positive responses when they played with blocks than they did girls.
• Parents gave girls more negative responses when they manipulated an object than they did boys.
• Parents gave more positive responses to girls than boys for playing with dolls and more negative responses to boys.
• Parents criticized girls more when they participated in large motor activities – e.g. running and jumping.
• Parents gave more positive responses to girls than boys when they asked for help and a more negative response to boys.
• Fathers were more concerned with appropriate sex-typing than mothers and both parents found more behaviours appropriate for girls only than for boys only.

Question 9

studies

Answer 9

smith & Lloyd

Question 10

S L aim

Answer 10

to investigate how gender labelling would affect toy choice of mothers for children

Question 11

S L participants

Answer 11

32 mothers

Question 12

S L procedure

Answer 12

• mothers were asked to play with a 6-month old baby
  
  • baby was cross-dressed. if it was a boy, dressed as a girl, had a girl’s name, and vice versa
• The mother and the child were put into a room that had a collection of “gendered” toys – like a football (male) and stuffed animals (female).
• interactions between the woman and the child were filmed

Question 13

S L results

Answer 13

• mothers chose toys that matched their perception of the gender of the child.
• more active with the child when they thought it was a boy - encouraged to interact physically with their environment
• only babies dressed as girls given dolls, only babies dressed as boys given hammers

Question 14

S L conclusion

Answer 14

The way that parents interact with a child may play a role in enculturation, teaching the child what is appropriate behaviour in their culture. In this case, which toys they should play with and the accepted level of physical activity.