The Effects of Modifying Color-Meaning Concepts on the Racial Attitudes of Black and White South African Preschool Children

Summary The study sought to test in South Africa the hypothesis that the affective connotations given to colors are generalized to ethnic groups which are also color-coded. Forty Black and 40 White preschool children from urban day nurseries were assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Treatment for the experimental group Ss consisted of a negative reinforcement behavior modification program. Ss were exposed to the Color-Meaning Test on two occasions during which the modification procedure was implemented only for the experimental group Ss. The Preschool Racial Attitude Measurement (PRAM II) was then administered to determine whether modification of the S's color-meaning concepts had generalized to their racial concept attitudes. Significant effects were obtained for the treatment groups and a two-month follow-up administration of the PRAM II revealed maintenance of the modification procedure over time for experimental group Ss.