ERIC Number: EJ810954
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Sep
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Learning (Not) to Talk about Race: When Older Children Underperform in Social Categorization
Apfelbaum, Evan P.; Pauker, Kristin; Ambady, Nalini; Sommers, Samuel R.; Norton, Michael I.
Developmental Psychology, v44 n5 p1513-1518 Sep 2008
The present research identifies an anomaly in sociocognitive development, whereby younger children (8 and 9 years) outperform their older counterparts (10 and 11 years) in a basic categorization task in which the acknowledgment of racial difference facilitates performance. Though older children exhibit superior performance on a race-neutral version of the task, their tendency to avoid acknowledging race hinders objective success when race is a relevant category. That these findings emerge in late childhood, in a pattern counter to the normal developmental trajectory of increased cognitive expertise in categorization, suggests that this anomaly indicates the onset of a critical transition in human social development. (Contains 3 figures and 4 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Race, Young Children, Racial Differences, Classification, Social Development, Cognitive Development, Age Differences, Preadolescents, Racial Factors, Developmental Stages, Elementary School Students, Visual Stimuli, Social Attitudes
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A