skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Parents: Actions Speak Louder than Words

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 4, 2017   

DES MOINES, Iowa – To adults, it's sometimes unclear how much goes over kids' heads and how much they're absorbing. According to research from the University of Washington, children as young as four could be picking up nonverbal social biases from adults.

Allison Skinner, lead author of the research, said this study was meant to go further than others that already had shown kids adopt biases from their parents.

"This being one of the first steps to talk more about how kids are actually picking it up from the culture, how they're absorbing it," she said.

Researchers took a group of four- and five-year-olds and showed them two videos. An actor greeted two women with an action, such as giving one of them a toy. In the first, the actor spoke in a positive manner, smiling and speaking in a warm tone. In the second, the actor scowled and spoke gruffly. Two-thirds of the children favored the recipient of the positive signals.

Researchers then took the study a step further. They added "friends," with shirts the same color, to the two women who had received the positive and negative signals. They found the children's preferences and biases extended beyond individuals, to members of groups. Four out of five children preferred the friends of the woman who received positive signals.

Skinner explained that the research mirrors what kids most likely experience in daily life, and said parents may need to check even their innermost feelings if they don't want to pass on their own biases.

"So, really be aware that, 'Oh, I'm interacting with someone of another group, perhaps a group that my child doesn't have very much exposure to,'" she added. "'So, I need to be really aware of how I'm behaving, and how much I'm giving them eye contact and all these various things, and making sure that I'm giving a positive message.'"

Skinner said parents who have diverse groups of friends also may be shaping kids to be inclusive of people who are different from them.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021