The intention of the proposed research project is to develop & pilot-test measures to examine gender development in infants & toddlers. Once developed, these measures will be used to explore the ways in which gender stereotypes affect young children's information-processing. Research on stereotypes has shown that they function to simplify information-processing in adults & children. However, stereotyping may develop earlier in life. In particular, gender stereotypes may provide a window into the early stereotyping because: 1) the categories are perceptually salient, 2) children have frequent exposure to people of both sexes, 3) it is personally relevant, & 4) many of the stereotypes are concrete (e.g., occupations & clothing). While previous research on gender development has been primarily restricted to studies of children ages 3 years & older, gender schema theory suggests that a great deal of gender development occurs in the first three years of life. For instance, knowing one's own sex is thought to be an important milestone in gender development. Research examining gender development in young children is an emerging area. In the past, it was difficult to assess gender development in young children because the measures used with older children required levels of verbal understanding & cooperation that young children did not possess. Recent studies have used more age-appropriate measures (e.g., preferential looking) to provide evidence that gender development starts in infancy. However, these measures have had methodological problems & consequently results have been inconsistent. The proposed studies will examine new & modified measures of gender development in 6- to 30-month-old children, using paradigms that are designed to be more age appropriate & engaging for this very young population. Specifically, they will assess the feasibility of measures of (1) self-identification by sex (children's understanding of what sex they are), (2) children's knowledge of gender stereotypes, & (3) gender salience (attention & importance attached to gender).
