Social Categories and AttitudesPerception, Memory, Inferences, PrejudicesThree Distinctions: Hard to meet someone without noting these 3 featuresGender, Race, AgeSeeing Gender: InfantsFirst Question: How early do children see development?Looking time studyMethod: 3-4 month old babies saw a picture of female/male headMeasure: How long babies looked at males vs. femalesFinding: Babies looked longer at female facesLooking time study: Take 2Method: Babies with male primary caregiverMeasure: How long babies looked at males vs. femalesFinding: Babies looked longer at male facesTake away messages:Babies detect gender in the first year of lilfeBabies looking preferences are influenced by their primary caregivers’ genderGender Preferences: ChildrenNaturalistic observationsControlled Laboratory TasksWhich child would you want as your friend? (picture of girl and boy)Finding: kids as young as 3 years of age prefer same-gender kidsTake Away Message:Young children not only perceive gender, also show gender ingroup favoritism by 2-3 yearsSeeing Race: InfantsQuestion: Do infants notice race in faces?Procedure: Show two faces to infants size by size (black and white)Participants: 3 month old White babies in Israel, Black babies in Ethiopia, and Black babies in Israel (Israel is a very white community, had equal interaction with both races)Results:White babies looked longer at white facesBlack babies looked longer at black facesBlack babies in Israel looked at white faces longer***Take Away MessagesBabies detect race in the first year of lifeBabies’ looking preferences are influence by their exposure to people of different racesWhy do young babies show spontaneous preferences for faces of the same race as those in their environment?One possibility:Perhaps looking-time measures infants’ social preferencesAnother possibility:Ease of processing effectsLook longer at faces that they are most exposed to in environmentRace preferences in Infancy?Baby reaching study: White 10-month old infantsQuestion: Do infants prefer to interact with same race people?Procedure: White or black person holding out toys to babiesResults:Babies were equally likely to take toys from the same vs. other race personLanguage Preferences:Had women talking in English vs. French accentHeld out toysBabies prefer toy of woman who spoke same languageTake Away Messages:Although babies notice race, they don’t seem to show social preference for same-race peopleBabies do show social preferences based on language (and so do older kids and adults, btw)Race Preferences: ChildrenControlled Laboratory TasksGender and race trialsWhich child would you want as your friend?Findings:3 year old children showed robust preferences for children of their own gender (M = 75%)No evidence for race based social preferences at 3 years (54%)But once 5 years old, same-preference shoots up to 76%Huge increase!Why do older children being showing race-based social preferences?Suggestion: “minimal group” effectsMinimal Group Effects:Participants: 5 year old childrenFirst: Has them pick either left or right hand, and based off of choice are put into a certain groupKids in red shirts vs. blue shirtsThen: Dependent on measures focused on attitudes toward the two groupsKey Finding: Kids prefer that t-shirt group to the other t-shirt groupHad never met kids before; told on same day what group they were inAsymmetries in Racial AttitudesClark and Clark Doll Studies (1930s-1950s)“A Girl Like Me” videoHad kids choose between black and white dollsEven black girls took white doll (15/21 preferred white)Aboud & Skerry (1984) reviewed 37 studies of attitudes of Black children living in countries where the majority population is White:Own race preferences in 27% of studiesNo preference in 57%Other-race preference = 16%What accounts for asymmetires in Racial attitudes(1) Differences in relative familiarityDon’t see other races very often(2) Perceptions of social statusProblem: In the U.S., these factors are confoundedSolution: Cross cultural studiesSouth Africa: Racial make-up contrasts with the U.S., but status differences look like the U.S.Black majority, but whites have higher social statusParticipants:Xhosa children living in a predominantly Xhosa township in Cape TownMean age = 7 yearsTested in Xhosa by a Xhosa experimenterGave race and gender trials test“Whom do you want to be friends with?”Showed gender preferences but not racial biasParticipants:Black and White children at divers primary schoolMean age = 6.5 yearsBlack and white children showed high same-gender preferencesBlack and white children showed preference both showed preference for white individuals thoughAnswer: Perceptions of social status!What accounts for asymmetires in racial attitudesRace Preferences: Even Older ChildrenExplicit Attitudes (White Participants)Self-reported preferencesSix year olds said 80% (white >black)10 year olds said 70%Adults said 50%Implicit Attitudes (White participants)Implicit Attitudes Test6 year olds, 10 year olds, and adults all had equal answers (all preferred own-races)Study: 8-9 year olds vs. 10-11 year old children play guess whoResults: Younger children outperformed older children on a race-relevant version of the task (results reversed for race-neutral task)Older children more reserved/vary about asking questions about raceAttitudes for Older-Minority Group ChildrenBegin to show strong explicit ingroup favoritism ~ 8 yearsBut: null effects on implicit association testsTake equally long on test, no biasRace in ChildhoodTake Away MessagesYoung preschoolers do not show race-based social preferencesWhite Children begin to show racial ingroup favoritism around 4-5 years of age, but Black children do notStatus plays a role in guiding the racial preferences of older preschoolers and childrenChildren’s own identity and age affect how they respond to raceThings to Think AboutGender seems really important to young children in early developmentFinally… There are individual differences in levels of prejudice in children (and adults)What accounts for these differences?How might we ameliorate prejudice more generally?Child Psychology 560: Social Development and Social Cognition (2) 03/04/2014Social Categories and Attitudes Perception, Memory, Inferences, Prejudices Three Distinctions: Hard to meet someone without noting these 3 features -Gender, Race, Age Seeing Gender: Infants-First Question: How early do children see