Lecture 21: Developmental Perspectives

Question 1

how should we think about age ranges?

Answer 1

as a measure of central tendency rather than a rule

Question 2

rates of development in children

Answer 2

Children vary a lot in when they develop certain capacities

Question 3

how do we infer novelty?

Answer 3

from eye gaze duration

Question 4

the habituation paradigm

Answer 4

as a stimulus becomes less novel, infants look at it less

Question 5

looking time can access

Answer 5

• Recognition of novelty, difference, or change
• Preference

Question 6

Recognition of novelty, difference, or change

Answer 6

when a pre-existing stimulus has been completely encoded

Question 7

preference

Answer 7

when a pre-existing stimulus hasn’t been completely encoded

Question 8

novelty and gender study method

Answer 8

1. Habituate 5-6-month-olds to a photo
2. See a new photo of someone similar or different in gender or age
3. measure the time spent looking at the photo

Question 9

novelty and gender study findings

Answer 9

Found that while kids have some idea of gender, they have a more nuanced facial perception that goes beyond gender

Question 10

habituation

Answer 10

complete encoding, so recognition

Question 11

preference and race study method

Answer 11

had white newborns and 3-month-olds view images of people from different races (no habituation) and measured their looking time

Question 12

preference and race study findings

Answer 12

• Newborns: there was no-race based difference in looking time
• 3-month-olds: there was more looking time for white faces

Question 13

what do preferential-looking studies reveal about race preference development?

Answer 13

that nonverbal preferences based on race develop with experience

Question 14

Two rules for when awareness of social categories develops

Answer 14

1. Visibility of social category
2. The primacy of social category in everyday life

Question 15

when does the awareness of gender develop?

Answer 15

early (2-3 years)

Question 16

when does the awareness of race and ethnicity develop?

Answer 16

later (5+ years)

Question 17

trajectory of race recognition in white American children

Answer 17

In the U.S., white children can generally distinguish Black people first, but Asian, Latinx, and Native American people later

Question 18

perceiving race study method

Answer 18

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)

Question 19

perceiving race study findings

Answer 19

Found that adults rely on a combination of skin colour and facial features, while children rely primarily on skin colour

Question 20

race as essential study method

Answer 20

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?

Question 21

race as essential study findings

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

development of the understanding of race as a sensitive issue

Answer 22

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

Question 23

guess who study method

Answer 23

had kids play Guess Who in a race-relevant or race-neutral condition

Question 24

guess who study findings

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

Two important factors for development of racial prejudice

Answer 25

1. Are you a member of a majority or minority group?
2. How much contact do you have with members of minority groups?

Question 26

development of explicit racial preferences

Answer 26

Ingroup explicit racial preferences go away by the time children are 10. However, this might be due to social desirability

Question 27

development of implicit racial preferences

Answer 27

there were no changes in pro-white attitudes across ages

Question 28

why does explicit prejudice decline

Answer 28

• People learn social and cultural norms about race
• Internalize moral lessons about equality & fairness

Question 29

why does implicit prejudice stay the same?

Answer 29

• Stability of attitudes
• Stability of cultural messages
• Implicit prejudice increases, but adults get better at controlling them

Question 30

Implicit and explicit attitudes in Cameroon study method

Answer 30

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

Question 31

implicit and explicit attitudes in Cameroon study findings

Answer 31

• 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

Question 32

when do preferences for one’s own gender develop?

Answer 32

early, by ages 3-4

Question 33

gender preferences in adolescence

Answer 33

Gender preferences decline around puberty (probably due to heterosexual attraction)

Question 34

brilliance over time

Answer 34

• 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”

Question 35

draw a scientist task findings

Answer 35

• 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

Question 36

Johnson & Aboud, 2017 study method

Answer 36

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

Question 37

reconciliation skills

Answer 37

the ability to accept whether others’ judgments (that differ from their judgments) are valid

Question 38

Kindergarteners’ thoughts about racial preferences

Answer 38

thought that both Black and White readers would have more positive attitudes towards White people

Question 39

Second-graders’ thoughts about racial preference

Answer 39

thought that the Black and White readers would prefer their ingroup, and this was particularly true for kids who had higher reconciliation skills

Question 40

effect of the storybook intervention on racial attitudes

Answer 40

there was no effect on racial attitudes

Question 41

why was the storybook intervention unsuccessful?

Answer 41

• 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

Question 42

how can we develop anti-bias strategies in children

Answer 42

We need to understand and appreciate what cognitive skills are needed for a message to be effective