Preschool children's understanding of racial cues in drawings and photographs

Studies of the development of racial awareness have used – albeit asystematically – stimuli of varying degrees of realism (dolls, drawings, photographs). Although researchers have weighed the advantages and disadvantages of using one or the other type of material with young children, there are no empirical studies that determine whether the nature of the material affects responses. We examined whether the use of drawings or photos affected children's responses when assessing diverse components of racial awareness. Ninety preschoolers from the majority group in Madrid, Spain, were divided into four groups by age and condition (drawing vs. photo). Children performed person description, social categorization, preference, and matching tasks. Type of material affected performance, although this influence varied by age and task type.