Lecture 21: Developmental Perspectives Flashcards
how should we think about age ranges?
as a measure of central tendency rather than a rule
rates of development in children
Children vary a lot in when they develop certain capacities
how do we infer novelty?
from eye gaze duration
the habituation paradigm
as a stimulus becomes less novel, infants look at it less
looking time can access
- Recognition of novelty, difference, or change
- Preference
Recognition of novelty, difference, or change
when a pre-existing stimulus has been completely encoded
preference
when a pre-existing stimulus hasn’t been completely encoded
novelty and gender study method
- Habituate 5-6-month-olds to a photo
- See a new photo of someone similar or different in gender or age
- measure the time spent looking at the photo
novelty and gender study findings
Found that while kids have some idea of gender, they have a more nuanced facial perception that goes beyond gender
habituation
complete encoding, so recognition
preference and race study method
had white newborns and 3-month-olds view images of people from different races (no habituation) and measured their looking time
preference and race study findings
- Newborns: there was no-race based difference in looking time
- 3-month-olds: there was more looking time for white faces
what do preferential-looking studies reveal about race preference development?
that nonverbal preferences based on race develop with experience
Two rules for when awareness of social categories develops
- Visibility of social category
- The primacy of social category in everyday life
when does the awareness of gender develop?
early (2-3 years)
when does the awareness of race and ethnicity develop?
later (5+ years)
trajectory of race recognition in white American children
In the U.S., white children can generally distinguish Black people first, but Asian, Latinx, and Native American people later
perceiving race study method
participants saw White & Black faces, had to label as “White or European-American” or “Black or African-American”. Faces differed in skin colour & facial features (physiognomy)
perceiving race study findings
Found that adults rely on a combination of skin colour and facial features, while children rely primarily on skin colour
race as essential study method
5-6-year-olds, 9-10-year-olds, and adults viewed images of White and Black kids and adults that were expressing either a happy or angry expression. On each trial, participants saw a photo of one child who was making either a happy or angry expression and then one same-race adult making a different expression or one other-race adult making the same expression. Participants then had to choose, when the child grows up, which one will he be?
race as essential study findings
- Found that 9-10-year-old White children, as well as White adults, viewed race as more important than emotion when making predictions
- White 5-6-year-olds used race much less compared to white 9-10-year-olds
- Racial minority 5-6-year-olds were also more likely to use race
development of the understanding of race as a sensitive issue
As children become more aware of race as an aspect of one’s social identity, they also become aware of the cultural norm of hesitancy to discuss race directly (colourblindness). Children may learn to avoid discussing race even in situations where the situation might demand it
guess who study method
had kids play Guess Who in a race-relevant or race-neutral condition
guess who study findings
- 8-9-year-olds asked roughly the same amount of questions in both conditions, whereas 10-11-year-olds needed more questions to get the right answer in the race-relevant condition
- End result is that younger kids did better on the task when race was introduced
- This occurs because 10-11-year-olds are aware that race is a socially taboo topic, while 8-9-year-olds don’t know this yet
Two important factors for development of racial prejudice
- Are you a member of a majority or minority group?
- How much contact do you have with members of minority groups?
development of explicit racial preferences
Ingroup explicit racial preferences go away by the time children are 10. However, this might be due to social desirability
development of implicit racial preferences
there were no changes in pro-white attitudes across ages
why does explicit prejudice decline
- People learn social and cultural norms about race
- Internalize moral lessons about equality & fairness
why does implicit prejudice stay the same?
- Stability of attitudes
- Stability of cultural messages
- Implicit prejudice increases, but adults get better at controlling them
Implicit and explicit attitudes in Cameroon study method
Researchers investigated the implicit and explicit racial attitudes (towards Black, White, and Chinese people) among children growing up in Cameroon. The researchers collected 30 participants from ages 3-30.
Implicit attitudes were measured using an adapted IAT and explicit attitudes were measured by preferences for own-race vs. other-race people in a variety of scenarios
implicit and explicit attitudes in Cameroon study findings
- Results found that 3-6-year-olds showed ingroup implicit preferences, but 6+-year-olds changed to outgroup preferences
- Explicitly, people had a slight ingroup preference
when do preferences for one’s own gender develop?
early, by ages 3-4
gender preferences in adolescence
Gender preferences decline around puberty (probably due to heterosexual attraction)
brilliance over time
- While five-year-olds thought their gender was more likely to be smart, starting by age 6, both boy and girl participants thought men were smarter
- The difference between 5-year-olds and 6-year-olds carried over into an interest in games that were described as being for “really smart people”
draw a scientist task findings
- the gender bias in the “Draw a Scientist” task is decreasing over time, but not substantially
- For girls, the rate of drawing a male scientist also increases with age
Johnson & Aboud, 2017 study method
investigated whether children’s racial biases could be changed by reading children’s stories that featured a cross-race friendship. The sample was split between kindergarteners 5-6-year-olds and second-graders 7-8-year-olds. They also manipulated whether the person reading the story to the child was Black (outgroup) or White (ingroup). They also measure each child’s reconciliation skills
reconciliation skills
the ability to accept whether others’ judgments (that differ from their judgments) are valid
Kindergarteners’ thoughts about racial preferences
thought that both Black and White readers would have more positive attitudes towards White people
Second-graders’ thoughts about racial preference
thought that the Black and White readers would prefer their ingroup, and this was particularly true for kids who had higher reconciliation skills
effect of the storybook intervention on racial attitudes
there was no effect on racial attitudes
why was the storybook intervention unsuccessful?
- kids mostly assumed the person reading the book largely shared their racial prejudices
- Young children may not possess the cognitive structure to engage with an anti-bias perspective
how can we develop anti-bias strategies in children
We need to understand and appreciate what cognitive skills are needed for a message to be effective
