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on the noses of 9-, 12-, and 18-month-old infants who stood in front of a mir- ror. Nine- and 12-month-olds reached out and touched the mirror to rub off the rouge, seemingly not realizing that they were observing themselves in the reflection. In contrast, the 18-month-old toddlers wiped their noses when they saw their reflection in the mirror. The authors concluded that midway through the second year toddlers begin to think about themselves objectively as they would about other people. Notably, about the time toddlers pass the rouge test, they begin to use personal pronouns (“me”, “mine”) and refer to themselves by their own names (Lewis & Ramsay, 2004). Electroencephalography (EEG) pro- vides further evidence of infant self-recognition: 18-month-olds show enhanced brain responses when viewing their own faces compared to the faces of unfa- miliar infants, their caregivers, or unfamiliar caregivers (Stapel et al., 2017). Furthermore, toddlers begin to use words such as “boy” or “girl” to label themselves and others. Gender self-labeling indicates that toddlers have formed a basic gender identity , which refers to knowing that one is a boy or a girl. Toddlers 24–30 months of age also demonstrate their understanding of gender categories by pointing to boys and girls in photographs or a picture of their own gender when asked (Martin, Ruble, & Szkrybalo, 2002; Stennes et al., 2005). Notably, the attainment of a gender identity may lead toddlers to engage in stereotyped behaviors, such as playing with toys that are “for boys” or “for girls.” Indeed, toddlers who produced gender labels earlier in development increased their sex-typed play over time more so than did children who pro- duced gender labels later in development (Zosuls et al., 2009). And children from different ethnic backgrounds show similar changes in gendered behav- iors as they learn about their gender identity (Zosuls et al., 2014). For example, researchers tested whether 2-year-old toddlers from Mexican, Dominican, and African American backgrounds could label their own gender and point to pictures labeled as “girl,” “boy,” “lady,” and “man.” They also observed children at 24 and 36 months playing with a set of toys that included a doll and truck. Children who understood gender categories at 24 months increased their gender-stereotyped play between the two ages, with girls gravitating toward the doll and boys toward the truck. Moreover, girls were more likely to engage in nurturing behaviors with the doll, such as cuddling and feeding, whereas boys were more likely to engage in mechanical manipulations of the toys, such as flipping the doll’s eyes open and shut or turning the wheels on the truck. Thus, as children learn about the social categories to which they and others belong, they shift their behaviors to align with their understanding of what mem- bers in the category should do. However, knowing one’s sex is only the first step in gender identity. With age, children’s attitudes and beliefs about gender develop into richly elaborated concepts, as we will discuss in subsequent chapters. CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING 7.23 1. Give an example of how a toddler’s understanding of gender affects their behaviors. ✓

gender identity  In infancy, gender identity refers to knowing that one is a boy or a girl

Contexts of Self-Identity Which aspects of context and culture influence infants’ knowledge of the self? As is the case for most constructs in developmental psychology, what is known about infant and toddler self-identity is largely based onAnglo-American infants frommiddle-income households. However, certain early aspects of self-identity are likely universal. As infants act in their worlds, they receive feedback about theirmovements, location in space, and interactionswith others. Thus, contextual influences on infants’ awareness of their own actions are typically not studied. In contrast, context and culture may influence development of the conceptual PROPERTY OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS