Describe how the developmental themes from the text (active-passive; continuity-discontinuity; holistic; and nature-nurture) are evident throughout the discussion of sex differences and gender-role development

What will be an ideal response?

The active child theme is perhaps best illustrated by the self-socialization processes that children go through as they develop their gender identities and gender roles. Children are not passive recipients of environmental influences or biological forces. Instead, they actively seek out information about appropriate behaviors and characteristics of their gender and work to incorporate these attributes into their own identities. This was reflected in Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental theory of gender-role development and in Martin and Halverson's gender-schema theory. Even the more biological theories of gender-role development concur that children are active in their gender-role acquisition.

Concerning developing gender identities and gender roles, we've seen that several theories propose qualitative stages of developmental change, with children behaving and thinking differently across these stages (the hallmark of qualitative developmental change). For example, in Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental theory, children pass through three qualitatively distinct stages on their way to developing a mature gender identity. The biological (both genetic and hormonal) forces that help shape gender also follow qualitative developmental changes as different developmental events help shape the child's biological gender and the child's reactions to those biological changes.

Perhaps the best example from this chapter of the interaction of nature and nurture in development is the interactive model of gender-role development. In that model, we saw biological forces interact with social and interpersonal influences to help guide children to the development of mature gender identities. We should not forget, however, that the other theoretical perspectives on gender-role development also made room for both nature and nurture in influencing gender development.

Our final theme—the holistic nature of child development—is well illustrated by the interplay between cognitive, social, and biological changes in children's development, all working together to help children achieve gender identity. Indeed, a mature gender identity would not be possible without the influences of the child's cognitive function, his or her interactions with other children and adults, and the biological changes that underlie many of the initial changes in gender.