Racial Bias Development And Intervention Studies For Children 4-6 Years:Evidence From Executive Function Training

Previous studies have shown that racial bias occurs in early childhood.Individuals with racial bias will unconsciously distinguish between "us" and "them" in communication.They will evaluate a person based on age,gender,and ethnicity.People have the tendency to strongly support the group they belong to,and hold contemptuous attitudes toward other groups.They will think that members of the outside group are not as good as members of their own group.Racial bias,when left unchecked,affects harmony between groups,and may cause serious social problems in different aspects of the life including education,employment,social justice,and personal health.Previous research on racial bias has exclusively focused on White or Black people,leaving it less known about non-Western societies,such as Asians.Racial bias is a universal social phenomenon.Only through discussing racial bias in different cultural backgrounds can we truly explain the laws and mechanisms of its occurrence and development.In addition,little research has been done to examine racial bias among children,especially young children before age 6.Therefore,it is of great practical and theoretical significance to explore the developmental trajectory of children's racial bias in a non-Western culture.It will not only enrich the theoretical and conceptual understanding of the early development of racial bias,but also provide insights for early intervention programs to reduce racial bias,and ultimately contributing to interracial harmony.The study consists of two experiments.Experiment 1 focused on the development of implicit and explicit racial bias as well as the impact of executive function on such development among children aged 4-to 6-years old.190 children were selected(94 boys,mean age = 4.98 years).Implicit racial bias was measured using a Preschoolfriendly Implicit Association Test(PSF-IAT),and explicit racial bias was measured using the Sticker Assignment Task and the Forced Selection Task.Children's executive function was also measured: working memory was measured by the Digit Span;inhibition control was measured through the Flanker Fish Task;Cognitive flexibility was measured by the Color/Shape task.Experiment 2 explored the effectiveness of executive function training on reducing implicit and explicit racial bias in children.54 children aged 4-6 years were selected(25 boys,mean age =5.06 years).After the pretest of children's implicit and explicit racial biases,children in the experimental condition were trained in executive function through the Heart-flower task,while children in the control group were trained through the camouflage Heart-flower task.The training lasted for 5 consecutive days for both conditions.Children's implicit racial biases were measured before and after the training,to explore whether executive function training could effectively reduce children's implicit and explicit racial biases.Several conclusions were obtained:(1)Children between ages 4 to 6 years preferred own-race Chinese over other-race Black people at both implicit and explicit levels.(2)Implicit racial biases remained unchanged between 4-to 6-year old while explicit racial bias gradually increased with age.(3)Children's executive function(working memory and inhibitory control)were negatively correlated with implicit racial bias such that children with more developed executive function had weaker implicit racial bias.(4)The executive function training significantly reduced children's implicit(not explicit)racial biases against Black people.