scholarly journals Are Category Labels Primary? Children Use Similarities to Reason About Social Groups

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Jordan ◽  
Yarrow Dunham
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Structure Study ◽  
Group Representations ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Coalitional Structure ◽  
Category Labels ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Social Inferences

While interpersonal similarities impact young children’s peer judgments, little work has assessed whether they also guide group-based reasoning. A common assumption has been that category labels rather than “mere” similarities are unique constituents of such reasoning; the present work challenges this. Children (ages 3–9) viewed groups defined by category labels or shared preferences, and their social inferences were assessed. By age 5, children used both types of information to license predictions about preferences (Study 1, n = 129) and richer forms of coalitional structure (Study 2, n = 205). Low-level explanations could not account for this pattern (Study 3, n = 72). Finally, older but not younger children privileged labeled categories when they were pitted against similarity (Study 4, n = 51). These studies show that young children use shared preferences to reason about relationships and coalitional structure, suggesting that similarities are central to the emergence of group representations.

scholarly journals Social structure learning in human anterior insula

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Lau ◽  
Samuel J Gershman ◽  
Mina Cikara
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Structure Learning ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Group Structure ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Latent Structure ◽  
Group Representations ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
Category Labels

Humans form social coalitions in every society, yet we know little about how we learn and represent social group boundaries. Here we derive predictions from a computational model of latent structure learning to move beyond explicit category labels and interpersonal, or dyadic, similarity as the sole inputs to social group representations. Using a model-based analysis of functional neuroimaging data, we find that separate areas correlate with dyadic similarity and latent structure learning. Trial-by-trial estimates of ‘allyship’ based on dyadic similarity between participants and each agent recruited medial prefrontal cortex/pregenual anterior cingulate (pgACC). Latent social group structure-based allyship estimates, in contrast, recruited right anterior insula (rAI). Variability in the brain signal from rAI improved prediction of variability in ally-choice behavior, whereas variability from the pgACC did not. These results provide novel insights into the psychological and neural mechanisms by which people learn to distinguish ‘us’ from ‘them.’

Low-Level Symptoms of Depression in Mothers of Young Children are Associated with Behavior Problems in Middle Childhood

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola A. Conners-Burrow ◽  
Lorraine McKelvey ◽  
Deborah Perry ◽  
Leanne Whiteside-Mansell ◽  
Shashank Kraleti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression

scholarly journals The opt out paradigm

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-227
Author(s):  
Sybren Spit ◽  
Sible Andringa ◽  
Judith Rispens ◽  
Enoch O. Aboh
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Experimental Method ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Linguistic Awareness ◽  
Opt Out

Abstract A common assumption is that children learn a language implicitly and without conscious awareness of form and grammar, but this assumption has virtually never been tested experimentally. We propose a novel experimental method to examine if children’s ability to acquire linguistic regularities relates to awareness of these regularities. Traditional methods investigating awareness often rely on learners’ abilities to verbalize their awareness. For young children, such methods are not adequate because they often cannot reflect explicitly on their acquired knowledge, although they might be aware of it in a way they cannot verbalize. To test this, we adapted a method that is used to investigate awareness in animals, because it does not rely on verbalization for demonstrating awareness. Pilot results with 26 adults and 48 kindergartners show some important procedural prerequisites are met. In future research, this procedure could be used to investigate the development of meta-linguistic awareness in children.

Verbal and Perceptual Analogical Reasoning and Proportional Metaphor Comprehension in Young Children

1987 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn A. Nippold ◽  
Michael P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Metaphor Comprehension ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Steady Improvement ◽  
The Common

In contrast to the common assumption that young children have little or no ability to reason by analogy or to comprehend proportional metaphors, the present study demonstrated that children as young as age 5 years have an emerging ability to solve both verbal and perceptual proportional analogy problems and to detect the meanings of proportional metaphoric sentences. These results were largely because the experimental tasks were designed to minimize the number of factors that would restrict the performance of young children. The results indicated that the years between 5 and 7 mark a steady improvement in analogical reasoning and proportional metaphor comprehension, but that children ages 5, 6, and 7 display a wide-ranging ability in these areas. It was also found that perceptual analogical reasoning was statistically related to verbal analogical reasoning and to proportional metaphor comprehension, and that perceptual analogical reasoning and proportional metaphor comprehension were both statistically related to receptive vocabulary development.

scholarly journals Young children seek out biased information about social groups

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. e12580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Over ◽  
Adam Eggleston ◽  
Jenny Bell ◽  
Yarrow Dunham
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Biased Information

scholarly journals Talking about writing: What we can learn from conversations between parents and their young children

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
SARAH ROBINS ◽  
REBECCA TREIMAN
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Exchange System ◽  
Symbol Systems ◽  
Language Data ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Types Of Information

ABSTRACTIn six analyses using the Child Language Data Exchange System known as CHILDES, we explored whether and how parents and their 1.5- to 5-year-old children talk about writing. Parent speech might include information about the similarity between print and speech and about the difference between writing and drawing. Parents could convey similarity between print and speech by using the wordssay,name, andwordto refer to both spoken and written language. Parents could differentiate writing and drawing by making syntactic and semantic distinctions in their discussion of the two symbol systems. Our results indicate that parent speech includes these types of information. However, young children themselves sometimes confuse writing and drawing in their speech.

scholarly journals Verbally Highlighting Extrinsic Causes of Novel Social Disparities Helps Children View Low-Status Groups as Structurally Disadvantaged Rather Than Personally Inferior

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Peretz-Lange ◽  
Paul Muentener
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Social Disparities ◽  
Two Measures

As part of their “essentialist” intuitions, young children tend to form personal attributions for observed intergroup differences – attributing them to groups’ intrinsic natures or inborn characteristics. Much research has linked this essentialist view of social groups with prejudiced attitudes. However, less research has explored children’s capacity to form structural attributions for observed intergroup differences – attributing them to groups’ extrinsic circumstances or access to opportunities – or how structural attributions relate to social attitudes. Structural attributions could enable children to view low-status groups as extrinsically disadvantaged rather than intrinsically inferior. We were interested in whether verbally highlighting the extrinsic causes of novel social status disparities could support young children in forming structural attributions for them, thereby mitigating the formation of prejudice toward novel low-status groups. To investigate, we introduced participants (n=106 5- and 6-year olds) to novel social status disparities that could be attributed to either intrinsic or extrinsic causes, and we framed the disparities in either intrinsic, neutral, or extrinsic terms. We then assessed children’s attributions for the disparities (through two measures: explanations and interventions) and their social attitudes toward the groups (through two measures: friendship preferences and prize allocations). Results indicated that participants tended to provide mostly personal attributions overall but that extrinsic framing led them to provide significantly more structural attributions. Extrinsic framing did not significantly impact social attitudes overall, but exploratory analyses revealed that it impacted participants’ friendship preferences in particular. Together, results suggest that verbally highlighting extrinsic causes can disrupt children’s intuitive tendency toward personal attributions, with promising implications for their views of low-status groups.

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