Which of the following statements is true of cognitive theories?

A) They maintain that children are shaped by the people and environments they encounter in everyday life.
B) They emphasize the gradual development of a complex mental network about gender and its assimilation to the self.
C) They maintain that the gender schema is learned in early childhood and guides the individual in becoming gender typed.
D) They emphasize that a child's mind is actively trying to comprehend and categorize gender information.

Cognitive theories emphasize that a child's mind is actively trying to comprehend and categorize gender information. This leads to the development of gender schema, which guides the individual in becoming gender typed. Option A refers more to social learning theory, where external people and environments shape a child's behavior. Option B also refers more to sociocultural theories, which emphasize the role of culture and society in shaping gender development. Option C is partly correct in that cognitive theories maintain that gender schema is learned in early childhood, but it oversimplifies the complex process of gender development by focusing only on gender schema.