How Does Thinking in Terms of Social Categories or a Continuum Affect Childrens Judgments?
How children conceptualize group membership has important implications for their social judgments. Many social dimensions (such as race, personality traits, talents, or physical attributes) can be conceptualized either categorically or continuously. In several studies (with Ellen Markman and Carol Dweck), four-year-old children hear a set of pictures described in terms of two discrete categories (e.g., “nice” vs. “mean” faces) or a single continuum (from “really nice” to “really mean”). Perceiving people as falling along a continuum may help children avoid stereotypical judgments.
