1. Development of Stereotype Consciousness Findings  As age increased, the percentage of children who demonstrated the ability to infer the individual stereotyped beliefs of others increased.  As age increased, the percentage of children who demonstrated awareness of broadly held stereotypes increased.  A significantly greater proportion of children from stigmatized groups (African-American or Latino) were aware of broadly held stereotypes than were children from non-stigmatized groups (White or Asian American).  Interesting that this discrepancy held robustly even as age increased; likely reflects contextual relevance. Consequences of Stereotype Consciousness Findings  Significant findings emerged for the Alphabet Task only.  Data revealed that the influence of stereotype threat conditions on cognitive performance was not related to children’s ability to infer the stereotyped beliefs of an individual.  Of children who were aware of broadly held stereotypes, children from stigmatized groups performed significantly worse in the diagnostic testing condition than children from non-stigmatized groups  This finding was not replicated in the non-diagnostic testing condition, suggesting that stereotype threat was indirectly activated during the diagnostic testing condition. Children appear to develop stereotype consciousness during middle childhood, and by the age of ten a large proportion of children can infer the individual stereotypes of others and are aware of more general, broadly held stereotypes. Children from academically stigmatized groups are more likely than their same-age peers from non-stigmatized groups to be aware of broadly held stereotypes in general and at earlier ages. Further, children from stigmatized groups who were aware of these stereotypes earned lower scores than children from non-stigmatized groups on one of two tasks that measured performance during the diagnostic testing condition (i.e., the examiner explained that the task assessed how good children were at solving problems). When children were told that the task helped researchers understand how children learn, this discrepancy in scores did not occur. It is suggested that stereotype threat was indirectly activated in the former testing condition. Important to recognize is the fact that children from stigmatized groups who were not cognizant of broadly held stereotypes did not exhibit decreased performance during stereotype threat conditions. These findings have important implications for educational equity in high-stakes and even classroom testing and assessment. Although practical strategies were not discussed, it may be beneficial to employ instruction that seeks to change the way children understand intelligence.  Limitations  Stories may have been slightly too complicated for younger students to understand  Use of the alphabet task may limit the generalizability of findings because this task may not parallel the actual academic tasks conducted in school  Future research  To enhance generalizability, a standardized test instead of a cognitive task could be used  Determine if students in differing education programs (e.g., gifted and talented) are at greater or less risk for stereotype threat Article Citation: McKown, C. & Weinstein, R. S. (2003). The development and consequences of stereotype consciousness in middle childhood. Child Development, 74, 498-515. Children’s Development of Stereotype Consciousness  Stereotype Consciousness: the awareness of stereotypes held by others (includes two components: the ability to infer the specific stereotyped beliefs of an individual and the awareness of broadly-held stereotypes)  Children become aware of and begin to distinguish individuals by gender and ethnicity by the age of 3 or 4 (Aboud, 2001; Hirschfeld,1996); they also begin to develop personal stereotypes as this age (Doyle & Aboud, 1995).  By the age of 6 years, children develop the ability to infer the social beliefs of others (e.g., Selman, 1980).  Social perspective-taking theory (Selman, 1980) and ethnic perspective- taking theory (Quintana, 1998) would suggest that children’s awareness of broadly-held stereotypes cannot exist until the ability to infer individual stereotyped beliefs is developed.  Ethnic identity development (Phinney & Chavira, 1995) and racial socialization (Sanders, 1997) research suggests a different sequence; that is, children from stigmatized groups are more likely to experience an early social context that facilitates awareness of broadly-held stereotypes before they develop the ability to infer the stereotypes of an individual. Consequence of Stereotype Consciousness  Children from stigmatized groups may be more vulnerable to negative teacher expectancy effects (McKown & Weinstein, 2002) and stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995).  Stereotype threat has been shown to impact adult performance even when stereotyped identities were indirectly primed (Steele & Aronson, 1995).  Ambady et al. (2001) conducted a study that examined the priming of stereotypes and child academic performance; however, such research has not included children from ethnically stigmatized groups.  Participants:  Children ages 6-10 (N = 202; 50% boys; 42% White, 24% African American, 18% Latino, 16% Asian, 1% Other) Recruited from schools and programs in the San Francisco Bay area  Procedure: Study 1: Measuring Stereotype Consciousness  Part One: the child’s ability to understand a specific individual’s stereotype was assessed.  Two stories were presented about an imaginary world named Kidland—home of imaginary people named Greens and Blues.  Children were asked to decide if a character in the story would choose a Green or a Blue to help on an academic task.  During the second story, children were told that Greens do not think Blues are smart.  Part Two: the child’s ability to understand broadly held stereotypes was assessed.  Children were asked to describe any similarities between the real world and Kidland.  Scoring “understanding” was based on child-provided descriptions of stereotypes involving race or ethnicity.  Logistical regression model was used to predict the two components Study 2: Measuring Stereotype Threat and Cognitive Performance  Two performance tasks were provided (i.e., alphabet and word-find)  Diagnostic testing condition (threat condition): children were told that the purpose of the test was to see how good they were at solving problems  Non-Diagnostic condition (non-threat condition): children were told the purpose of the test was to help understand how children learn  Multiple-factor regression models were used for analysis Introduction Method Results Discussion Figure 1. Percentage of Children Able to Infer the Stereotypes of an Individual, by Age 2 Figure 2. Percentage of Children Aware of Stereotypes that are Broadly Held, by Age and Stigmatization Group Study Aims The Development and Consequences of Stereotype Consciousness in Middle Childhood Clark McKown & Rhona S. Weinstein Presented by Ellen Anderson Figures Figure 3. Alphabet Task Score Means for Children Aware of Broadly Held Stereotypes, by Testing Condition and Stigmatization Group Note: Stigmatized children were those who identified as African-American or Latino; non-stigmatized children were those who identified as White or Asian American Note: Stigmatized children were those who identified as African-American or Latino; non-stigmatized children were those who identified as White or Asian American.  Aim 1: To examine children’s stereotype consciousness within a developmental framework (i.e., considering differences between children aged 6-10).  Aim 2: To investigate the relation between children’s stereotype consciousness and their response during conditions that activate stereotype threat.