Child Psych- Ch. 8 Infant Morality

According to the infant cognition lab studies conducted by Paul Bloom at Yale University, babies have an inborn tendency to prefer "good" over "bad."  However, as some of you saw yesterday in class (those of you who braved the snowstorm), infants also have a inborn bias to prefer those who are similar to them. Thus, Bloom and his associates concluded that although babies are born with a primitive morality, the roots of "evil" (bias, bigotry, racism) may also be inborn.

In addition to the Yale study, other studies regarding infant morality have been conducted at the University of Texas, the University of Colorado, and Duke University. Read about these studies in the article See Baby Discriminate, published in Newsweek in 2009, to understand how infants as young as six months have the tendency to discriminate others based on skin color.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences on a word document.  Format with MLA heading.

You may work with ONE other student to complete this assignment collectively. (Only need to turn in one paper per two students)

Due: Wednesday, March 27th

Value: 15 points

Birgette Vittrup- University of Texas: Multicultural Videos
1. Identify the goal and set-up of Birgette Vittrup's study regarding the influence of multicultural videos on children. Include information about the 3 groups utilized in the study.

2. Why did 5 families drop out of Vittrup's study?

3. Why did the study initially seem like a "failure?"

4. Why were parents reluctant to talk to their children about race? In what manner did they discuss the topic with their children?

5. How does the race of the parents affect racial discussions in the home?

Rebecca Bigler- University of Texas: Preschool T-shirts 

6. Explain the set-up of the t-shirt activity in 3 preschool classrooms.

7. How did the children's behavior/attitudes change?

8 . Why does Bigler believe that children should be spoken to about race before the age of 3 years?

Phyllis Katz- University of Colorado: Photos of faces

9. Explain the set-up of Katz's study. How did 6-month-olds react to photos of their own race versus a different race?

10. What was the result of the experiment with 3-year-olds and their choosing of "friends?"

11. What was the result of 5 to 6-year-olds who were asked to sort cards?


12. When do most parents feel it is "safe" to start talking to children about race?