Preschoolers' evaluations of physical disabilities: a consideration of attitudes and behavior.
Assessed preschoolers' attitudes about orthopedically handicapped individuals with a standard picture-ranking task. Children generally exhibited a functionally related preference for nonhandicapped individuals. One month later, the same children were videotaped reading and playing basketball with a female adult in a wheelchair or in a chair. Preferences for a normal play partner during reading or during sports on the picture-ranking task did not relate to frequency of social interactions. Liking preference for a normal play partner, in conjunction with gender of the child, predicted frequency of social interactions during both tasks regardless of examiner's handicap status. Thus, the adoption of a negative bias had a general influence; any potential behavioral biases, as reflective of preference biases, were undifferentiated and unfocused in these preschoolers.
Cohen
R
R
Department of Psychology, Memphis State University, Tennessee 38152.
Nabors
L A
LA
Pierce
K A
KA
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001364:Awareness; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D012919:Social Behavior; D014910:Wheelchairs