VOCABULARY FOR SKIN COLOR IN NEGRO AND WHITE CHILDREN

Hypothesized that Negro children have larger vocabularies for describing skin color than white children. 48 Ss were used in a 2 * 2 * 2 design based on age, sex, and race. The experimental task had the children describe to a white interviewer the skin color of 16 bubble gum pictures of Negro and white baseball players. To determine vocabulary for all colors, Ss also described a series of blue paint samples. Results showed that the white Ss had significantly greater verbal ability for both the blue paint and baseball pictures than the Negro Ss. When a measure of relative vocabulary was devised, it was found that all groups of the Negro Ss used relatively more words to describe skin color than white Ss. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.