Research article summary (published 29 Apr 2006):

The role of language, appearance, and culture in children's social category-based induction.

Full Abstract

Four studies examined whether Israeli 5-year-olds (N = 88) and adults (N = 48) drew inferences about psychological properties based on a character's social category, personality trait, or physical appearance trait. Study 1 revealed that while children drew inferences mostly by social category, adults did it by personality trait. Study 2 showed that the children's pattern was not due to how the categorical information was conveyed. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that for kindergarteners, labels, not appearances, are determinant of the inductive potential of social categories. Studies indicated that "Jew" and "Arab" were the most inductively powerful social categories for both children and adults. The results carry implications for the roles of language, appearances, and culture in the conceptualization of "human kinds."

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Author information

Author/s: Diesendruck, Gil (G); HaLevi, Heidi (H);

Affiliation: Bar-Ilan University, Israel. dieseng(-atsign-)mail.biu.ac.il

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Child development (Child Dev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2006 May-Jun; vol 77 (issue 3) : pp 539-53

Dates: Created 2006/05/11; Completed 2006/07/03;

PMID: 16686787, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Arabs - psychology Child Child Development Child, Preschool Cross-Cultural Comparison Facial Expression Female Humans Individuality Israel

Jews - psychology Judgment Language Male Personal Construct Theory Personality Religion Religion and Psychology Social Class Socialization Visual Perception

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