COGNITIVE APPROACH - Enculturation
14 important questions on COGNITIVE APPROACH - Enculturation
What are the dependent variables in the study?
- Parents' reactions to the child's behavior.
- Parents' ratings of whether behaviors were appropriate for girls, boys, or both.
How did parents react when children behaved in ways linked to their own sex?
What were the control variables regarding the children?
- Same age range for all children: 20–24 months.
- Same observation schedule: five 60-minute observations over five weeks.
- Same observation checklist with 46 child behaviors and 19 parent reactions.
- Higher grades + faster learning
- Never study anything twice
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
What are the strengths of the study?
- Naturalistic setting gives high ecological validity.
- Two observers included in the study, so not influenced by personal biases.
- High inter-rater reliability -> both observers recorded the same data during observations.
- Agreement between the two observers: 0.93 for children behaviour & 0.83 for parents reactions.
- Observations were systematic with a checklist and time sampling.
- Provides evidence parents shape children’s sex-role behavior.
How did the researchers ensure reliability in observations?
- Two observers were used to reduce bias.
- A second observer checked the same behavior to test reliability.
What are the three types of cultural transmission mentioned?
- Vertical cultural transmission from parents to children.
- Horizontal cultural transmission, through siblings and friends.
- Oblique cultural transmission from other adults and social institutions.
Describe the procedure used for observing families.
- Researchers observed 24 families in their home environment.
- Each family was observed five times, for 60 minutes each.
- Observers recorded child behaviors and parent reactions every 60 seconds.
How is Social Learning Theory apart of Enculturation?
What was the aim of the DP Psychology: Fagot (1978) study?
What type of research methods were used in the Fagot (1978) study?
- Naturalistic observation
- Questionnaire (parents rating the 46 children behaviours, more approp for girls, boys or neutral)
- Quantitative and qualitative elements
- Correlational/observational rather than experimental
How does differential reinforcement relate to social learning theory in enculturation?
What were the key results regarding boys and girls?
- Boys were more likely to be left alone than girls.
- Parents gave boys more positive responses for blocks.
- Parents gave girls more positive responses for dolls.
- Parents criticized girls more for large motor activities like running and jumping.
Describe the sampling method used in the Fagot (1978) study.
- 24 families with one child each.
- All children were aged 20 to 24 months.
- Specific sample: 12 boys and 12 girls, with both parents living at home.
- Convenience sample: all families were linked to the University.
What were the independent variables in the Fagot (1978) study?
- Child’s sex: boy or girl.
- Type of behavior: same-sex-typed, cross-sex-typed, or neutral behavior.
The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:
- A unique study and practice tool
- Never study anything twice again
- Get the grades you hope for
- 100% sure, 100% understanding

















