Damon (1977) Children of 4,6 & 9 years of age were told a story about 'George' who liked to play with dolls. They were asked whether it should be allowed: results.... the older the kids--- the more mature the answer answer, suggested children learn gender through 'meidating processes'. It is an active process. +++Supported Kohlberg's stage theory (gender constancy, identity and stability).
---potential researcher bias- (double blind exp. would eliminate subjectivity)
Martin and Halverson (1983) Showed schema consistent and inconsistent pictures (sex-stereotyped and not e.g. girl holding a gun) to 5 & 6 year olds. They children had to recall the pictures a week later and the results found that they often distorted the inconsistent pictures according to their 'schemas' (collection of knowledge about girls and boys) ++supports schema theory (attention-> schema emerges-> child adopts appropriate behaviour-> reinforces self image-> form a gender script-> focus on own sexes activities-> consistent behaviours assimilate).
These are only a couple of studies which you could use in an essay, you may have a few others, these are the ones that stick in my mind.
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