Changing Racial Bias by Transfer of Functions in Equivalence Classes

Abstract

Several studies used the stimulus equivalence paradigm to investigate attitudes toward socially relevant stimuli. In one of these studies, de Carvalho and de Rose (The Psychological Record 64: 527–536, 2014) used matching-to-sample (MTS) training to establish equivalence relations between a positive symbol and faces of individuals of African descent (toward which children showed negative bias prior to the research). Only one of four children showed the intended classes. The present study manipulated training parameters to increase the yield of equivalence classes comprising relations contrary to children’s previous racial bias. Thirteen children learned matching tasks that would potentially establish equivalence relations between Black faces and positive symbols, contrary to their preexperimental bias. All 13 children showed equivalence class formation, and nine of them maintained relations between Black faces and positive symbols in a different and more stringent test. Children’s evaluations of the faces with the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) showed a pronounced negative bias toward Black faces before training. After class formation, however, the difference between evaluations of Black and White faces was no longer statistically significant. These results showed that procedures based on equivalence and transfer of functions may contribute to educational programs designed to decrease racial biases, a significant challenge for our increasingly multicultural and multiracial societies.