Congratulations  to  our  student  lab  members!    

Rista  Plate,  a  first-­‐year  graduate  student,  received  a  Graduate  Research  Fellowship  from  the  National  Science  Foundation.  

Leah  Dornbusch  and  Maddie  Spencer  both  received  Hilldale  grants  to  conduct  their  senior  thesis  research.    

Libbie  Brey,  a  third-­‐year  graduate  student,  received  a  Graduate  Student  Research  Award  from  the  Midwestern  Psychological  Association  for  her  poster  presentation  at  the  MPA’s  annual  meeting.    

Tatiana  Campbell  was  awarded  a  Friends  of  the  Waisman  Center  undergraduate  award  for  her  contributions  to  our  lab.    

Lauren  Huckstadt,  a  recent  UW  graduate,  was  accepted  into  Teach  for    America  and  is  now  teaching  Special  Education  in  Tennessee.    

     Meet  the  Newest  Members  of  the  Social  Kids  Lab:  

 

   

                           

I  am  interested  in  how  children  think  about  social   categories   and   emotions.   I   received  my   BA   from   UW-­‐Madison   and   spent   two  years   as   a   clinical   research   fellow   at   the  National   Institutes   of   Health   in   a   pediatric  anxiety   lab.   I’m   excited   to   be   back   in  Madison  for  my  PhD  work.    

I  am  currently  working  on  a  study  for  3-­‐6  year-­‐olds   that   asks   how   children   decide  which   foods   they   like.   Before   joining   the  Social   Kids   Lab,   I   studied   Psychology   at  UW–Madison  and  worked   in   a   laboratory  studying   pain   processing   and   emotion  regulation.    

Members  of  the  lab  at  our  monthly  breakfast    

Rista  Plate,  1st-­‐year  grad  student  

Ashley  Jordan,  Associate  Research  Specialist  

We  are  now  conducting  research  at  the  Madison  Children’s  Museum!  This  past  year  our  lab  started  a  partnership  with  the  Madison  Children’s  Museum  (MCM).  Researchers  from  our  lab  are  at  the  MCM  four  days  a  week  to  conduct  some  of  our  shorter  studies  with  children  who  visit  the  MCM  during  the  day.  If  you  see  researchers  in  the  “Cozy  Cottage”  at  the  MCM,  it’s  probably  us!  Feel  free  to  stop  by  and  say  “hi”  and  let  your  child  participate  in  one  of  our  short  studies!  

Libbie  Brey  working  with  a  participant  in  the  MCM:  

 

Hello  and  Thank  You  from  the  Social  Kids  Lab!    

Dear  Parents,  Friends,  and  Teachers,    

We’ve  been  busy  since  our  last  newsletter!  Thank  you  for  all  of  your  help  and  support!  Without  families  and  schools  like  yours,  we  would  not  be  able  to  conduct  our  research.    

This  newsletter  summarizes  findings  from  studies  we  conducted  over  this  past  year  and  previews  new  research  in  our  lab.  If  you  have  any  questions  as  you  read,  please  feel  free  to  contact  us  for  more  information!  

Best  wishes,  

Kristin  Shutts,  Director  of  the  Social  Kids  Lab  &  Assistant  Professor  of  Psychology  Marissa  Johnson,  Lab  Manager  of  the  Social  Kids  Lab    

How  do  children  decide  whom  they  will  help?    (Lead  Researcher:  Maggie  Renno)  Children  show  an  interest  in  fairness  and  equality  early  in  development.  For  example,  if  there  are  four  people  and  four  stickers,  preschoolers  will   often   give   one   sticker   to   each   person.   If   resources  were   plentiful,   young   children  might   share   equally  with  everyone  around  them.  In  reality,  however,  resources  are  often  limited.  So,  how  do  children  decide  whom  they  will  help?      

Previous   research   indicates   that   adults   tend   to   be  more   generous  with  members   of   their   social   ingroups.  We  were   curious   if  young  children  might  show  similar  behavior.   In   two  studies   that  are  nearly   finished,  participants   (3-­‐5-­‐year-­‐olds)  distributed  toy  coins  to  unfamiliar  children  (depicted  in  photographs).  Sometimes  the  children  in  the  pictures  differed  in  gender,  and  sometimes  they  differed  in  race.    

We   found   that   children   tended   to   give   more   coins   to   people   who   matched   their   own   gender   and   racial   identity.   This   was  especially  true  when  there  were  odd  numbers  of  coins  (i.e.,  1  or  3  coins  to  give  out  to  two  people).  One  hypothesis  of  ours  was  that  children  might  give  more  to  people  from  their  social  ingroups  because  they  expect  those  people  will  be  more  generous  to  them.  We  found  support  for  this  idea:  The  participants  in  our  study  who  showed  the  strongest  tendency  to  give  more  to  ingroup  members  were  also   the  participants  who  had   the   strongest  expectations   that   same-­‐gender  and   same-­‐race  people  would  give  more  to  them.  

A  next  step  in  our  research  is  to  examine  whether  benefitting  from  the  helpful  gestures  of  other  people  (e.g.,  outgroup  members)  might  change  children’s  social  attitudes  and  generosity  toward  members  of  different  groups.      The  Link  Between  Race  and  Social  Class    (Lead  Researcher:  Marissa  Johnson)  

 A   growing   body   of   research   suggests   that   young   children’s   racial   attitudes   are   influenced   by   social   status   information.   For  example,  young  children   from  higher-­‐status   racial  groups   (e.g.,  White  children   in   the  U.S.  and  South  Africa)   tend  to   like  same-­‐  over  other-­‐race  people,  whereas  young  children  from  lower-­‐status  racial  groups  (e.g.,  Black  children  in  the  U.S.  and  South  Africa)  often  show  weaker  (or  no)  ingroup  favoritism.

A   recent   study   of   ours   sought   to   understand   the   link   between   race   and   social   class   and  examine   whether   providing   children   with   information   about   individuals’   wealth   might  attenuate   their   preferences   for   same-­‐race   people.   Participants   saw   people   who   differed  either   in   race   or   in   socioeconomic   status,   and   were   asked   whom   they   would   want   to  befriend.   Young   children   chose   to   be   friends  with   same-­‐race   children   as  well   as   children  depicted  as  wealthier.  

Participants   also   saw   trials   in   which   race   was   pitted   against   class.   In   this   case,   children  showed  no  preference  for  same-­‐race  children  over  children  who  were  depicted  as  high   in  socioeconomic   status.   The   findings   show   that   preferences   in   favor   of   same-­‐race   and  wealthy   individuals   are   equally   strong.   Together   with   previous   research,   the   findings  suggest  that  social  class  may  play  a  role  in  the  formation  or  maintenance  of  racial  attitudes.    

 

Infant  Development  (Lead  Researchers:  Marissa  Johnson  and  Maggie  Renno)  

Our  lab  is  now  running  studies  with  infants!  The  research  involves  infants  between  the  ages  of  6  and  13  months.  Here  is  a  glimpse  of  what  the  new  studies  entail:  

Food  studies:    We  live  in  a  nation  where  more  and  more  children  are  not  developing  healthy  eating  habits.  How  do  infants  and  children  decide  what  to  eat?  In  a  series  of  new  studies  funded  by  the  National  Institute  of  Child  Health  and  Human  Development  (NICHD),  we  are  examining  the  role  of  social  information  in  guiding  infants’  (and  older  children’s)  food  choices  and  preferences.    

Social   preference   studies:     In   other   studies   for   infants,  we   are   investigating   babies’   early   social   preferences.   In   this   research,  babies  sit  on  a  parent’s  lab  in  front  of  touch  screen  monitors.  Different  people  appear  on  the  screens  and  babies  learn  that  they  can  interact  with  the  people  by  touching  one  of  the  screens.  We  are  interested  in  what  information  babies  pay  attention  to  when  selecting  social  partners.  For  example,  in  a  first  study,  we  are  asking  whether  babies  will  choose  to  interact  with  someone  who  has  a  positive  expression  over  someone  who  does  not.    

 

A  look  at  our  recent  studies…  

Noticing  Race  and  Gender  (Researcher:  Marissa  Johnson)    

Last  fall,  our  newsletter  contained  a  description  of  a  study  where  children  met  4  different  kids  who  went  to  the  zoo  and  saw  various  animals.  Participants  were  asked  to  remember  which  child  saw  which  animal.  The  pictures  of  children  varied  by  either  gender  or  race.    

Our  final  data  analyses  showed  that  children  as  young  as  4  years  easily  confused  the  two  boys  with  each  other  as  well  as  the  two  girls  with  each  other,  but  did  not  typically  confuse  a  boy  with  a  girl.  Children  did  not,  however,  confuse  the  two  White  children  and  two  Black  children  more  than  they  confused  the  Black  children  with  the  White  children.  This  suggests  that  while  children  notice  a  person’s  gender  when  they  meet  them  for  the  first  time,  they  might  not  notice  a  person’s  race  as  much.  

We  are  currently  preparing  our  findings  for  publication.  We  are  also  conducting  several  new  studies  to  understand  why  children  come  to  notice  certain  categories  and  properties  of  people  in  their  social  environments.  One  finding  that  we  came  across  was  that  children  who  were  exposed  to  more  racial  diversity  in  their  schools  and  neighborhoods  did  pay  attention  to  a  person’s  race.  This  suggests  that  children’s  early  experiences  play  a  role  in  the  things  they  come  to  notice  and  care  about.      

Power  in  relationships  and  occupations  (Lead  Researcher:  Libbie  Brey)    

We  have  a  few  different  ongoing  studies   in  our   lab  that  are  focused  on  children’s  use  of  body   language  to  figure  out  who  has  more  power  in  relationships  or  occupational  settings.  

In  one  study,  young  children  looked  at  cartoon  pictures  featuring  characters  in  different  occupational  roles.  The  people  differed  in  their  body  posture  and  clothing,  and  children  were  simply  asked  which  person  might  be  “in  charge.”  Young  children  (4-­‐6  years  of  age)  were  quite  accurate  at  guessing  which  people  were  in  charge  in  these  cartoons.  Our  next  step  is  to  ask  whether  children  

notice  links  between  occupational  roles  and  group  membership  (e.g.,  that  people  wearing  green  hats   in   the   cartoons   tend   to  be  “in   charge”).   In   a   second   line  of  studies,  children  watched  videos  featuring  real  people  who  display  different  body  postures   (e.g.,   shoulders   back   and   head   high   vs.   body   slumped   and   head   tilted  down).   Again,   we   have   found   that   children   are   quite   accurate   at   using   body  language  to  figure  out  who  might  be  “in  charge.”    

In  ongoing   research,  we  are  asking  whether  children  can  use   information   in   the  videos  to  figure  out  how  people  will  interact  in  the  future.  Together,  this  research  is  helping  us  understand  children’s  ability  to  detect  and   learn  from  adults’  social  interactions  with  one  another.  

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

   

Updates  about  older  studies….  

Thinking  about  Competence,  Wealth,  &  Popularity  (Lead  Researcher:  Libbie  Brey)    

In   a   study  described   in  our   last  newsletter   (“Thinking  about  Competence”),  we  were   interested   in   knowing  whether   children  use  competence   information   (e.g.,   how   good   a   person   is   at  doing   something)   to   guide   their   social   preferences   for   other   people   and  whether  they  use   this   information  to  make  assumptions  about  how  wealthy  or  popular  someone   is.  We  completed  this  study  and  found  that  children  do  prefer  competent  people,  but  do  not  use  competence  to  make  assumptions  about  wealth  or  popularity.  

Over  the  past  year,  we  have  done  two  follow-­‐up  studies  to  test  whether  children  use  wealth  or  popularity  information  to  guide  their  social  preferences  and  assumptions.    

In  the  wealth  study,  participants  learned  about  two  children  who  differed  in  the  quality  of  their  belongings  (e.g.,  one  child  had  a  new  brand  name  backpack  and  one  child  had  an  older  generic  backpack).  Then,  we  asked  participants  various  questions  about  these  two  children.   For   example:  Who  might   have   a   large,   expensive   house?  Who  might   color   something   correctly?  Who  might   have  more  friends?  With  whom  would  they  want  to  be  friends?    

For  the  popularity  study,  participants  learned  about  two  children  who  did  an  activity  with  different  numbers  of  friends  (e.g.,  went  to  the  park  with  6  friends  or  1  friend).  These  participants  were  asked  similar  questions  to  those  presented  in  the  wealth  study.  

We  found  that  participants  chose  to  be  friends  with  the  child  who  was  depicted  as  wealthy  (e.g.,  having  expensive  belongings)  and  assumed  that  the  child  with  expensive  belongings  was  more  likely  to  color  something  correctly  and  have  more  friends.  Interestingly,  children  did  not  use  information  about  popularity  to  guide  their  social  preferences  and  inferences.  This  research  suggests  that  while  children  notice  a  lot  of  things  about  other  people,  wealth  seems  to  be  an  especially  important  category.  More  broadly,  the  research  teaches  us  about  the  kinds  of  information  children  pay  attention  to  when  meeting  new  people.