Children's gender categorization: An investigation of automatic processing

TY - JOUR

T1 - Children's gender categorization

T2 - An investigation of automatic processing

AU - Bennett, Mark

AU - Sani, Fabio

AU - Hopkins, Nick

AU - Agostini, Luisa

AU - Malucchi, Lucilla

PY - 2000/3

Y1 - 2000/3

N2 - It is suggested that previous research examining children's social categorization has relied on techniques which call upon controlled cognitive processes, chat is, processes under voluntary control. As such, this research may say little about children's spontaneous categorization of social information. The present study introduces an unobtrusive measure of categorization which enables examination of automatic processing with respect to gender categorization - the 'who said what!' technique (Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff, & Ruderman, 1978). A sample of 84 children aged between 7 and 12 years were presented with four photographs, two of boys and two of girls, together with 16 statements attributed to each of the children (i.e. four statements to each child). Subsequently, 16 statement cards each had to be assigned Eo a particular photograph to indicate 'who said what!' Children made significantly more within-gender errors than between-gender errors, indicating that they had spontaneously assimilated social information to gender-based categories.

AB - It is suggested that previous research examining children's social categorization has relied on techniques which call upon controlled cognitive processes, chat is, processes under voluntary control. As such, this research may say little about children's spontaneous categorization of social information. The present study introduces an unobtrusive measure of categorization which enables examination of automatic processing with respect to gender categorization - the 'who said what!' technique (Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff, & Ruderman, 1978). A sample of 84 children aged between 7 and 12 years were presented with four photographs, two of boys and two of girls, together with 16 statements attributed to each of the children (i.e. four statements to each child). Subsequently, 16 statement cards each had to be assigned Eo a particular photograph to indicate 'who said what!' Children made significantly more within-gender errors than between-gender errors, indicating that they had spontaneously assimilated social information to gender-based categories.

U2 - 10.1348/026151000165599

DO - 10.1348/026151000165599

M3 - Article

SN - 0261-510X

VL - 18

SP - 97

EP - 102

JO - British Journal of Developmental Psychology

JF - British Journal of Developmental Psychology

IS - 1

ER -