Perceptual Training and its Effect on Racial Preferences of Kindergarten Children

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Abstract
This study was an attempt to evaluate two training procedures in facilitating racial preference in kindergarten children. One treatment emphasized perceptual awareness and role-taking ability. The other treatment employed training in conservation and spatial perspective. The major dependent variable was a racial preference test requiring Ss to choose among pictures of black and white models. Six Piagetan tasks assessing the development of conservation and perspective were also administered pre- and post-training. Results showed that Ss possessed positive preferences for white models. Both the role-taking and Piagetan training conditions significantly decreased pro-white biases. In addition, both treatments resulted in a significant number of Ss acquiring conservation of number, distance, and two-dimensional space.