New York University.
Princeton University.
Child Dev. 2018 Jan;89(1):148-155. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12714. Epub 2017 Jan 27.
Classifying people into categories not only helps humans simplify a complex social world but also contributes to stereotyping and discrimination. This research examines how social categorization develops by testing how language imbues with meaning otherwise arbitrary differences between people. Experimental studies (N = 129) with 2-year-olds showed that generic language-language that refers to abstract kinds-guides the development of social categorization. Toddlers learned a new category after hearing generic language about individuals who shared an arbitrary perceptual feature but not after hearing matched specific language, simple labels, or plural (but nongeneric) language about the same set of individuals. These findings show how subtle linguistic cues shape the development of social categorization.
对人进行分类不仅有助于人类简化复杂的社会世界，还有助于刻板印象和歧视的形成。本研究通过测试语言如何赋予原本任意的人与人之间的差异以意义，来研究社会分类是如何发展的。对 2 岁儿童进行的实验研究（N=129）表明，通用语言——指的是抽象种类的语言——指导着社会分类的发展。在听到关于具有任意感知特征的个体的通用语言后，幼儿会学习一个新类别，但在听到匹配的特定语言、简单标签或同一组个体的复数（但非通用）语言后，他们则不会。这些发现表明，微妙的语言线索如何塑造社会分类的发展。
