 
Dateline NBC Comes to Campus
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When Dateline NBC wanted to delve into the issue of racial biases in children, they turned to a Saint Louis University professor for help. Dr. Elaine Jones, assistant professor of psychology, has conducted eye-opening research on the subject, and her work will be featured this spring in a joint Dateline-Discovery Channel production.
The Dateline crew was on campus Jan. 7 through 11 working with Jones to examine the results of a study she conducted several years ago that showed that even the youngest of children might possess racial attitudes that can cloud their judgements about people.
While at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jones interviewed 145 children, ages 3, 6 and 9, to discover how racial biases are formed. The children reviewed drawings of black and white story characters engaged in socially responsible and aggressive behaviors. The children were asked to make moral and liking judgements about the characters. Jones found that the 3-year-old children, both black and white, gave negative moral judgments to the black characters.
"The Influences of Behavior Valence and Actor Race on Black and White Children's Moral and Liking Judgements" was published in March 1999 by the Journal of Psychology, of which Jones is a consulting editor.
The study reaffirmed Jones' conviction that it's never too early to begin teaching children about race and tolerance.
"I was trying to look at young children's racial attitudes," Jones said. "When they're judging the actions and they make different judgements based on race, it suggests that there are racial attitudes that bias one story character over another. It's the type of study that gets at the heart of the development of children's racial attitudes."
Dateline wanted to see if children interviewed today in St. Louis also would show some of the same reactions to Jones' study. Network producers found Jones through her graduate advisor and mentor, Dr. Sharon Nelson-LeGall, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Nelson-LeGall said Jones was conducting exciting research in the field and should be contacted. Dateline came calling in November.
"I decided to work on the project because I think the topic is a really important social issue, which I hope will generate a lot of dialogue among viewers," Jones said.
In December, Jones began recruiting students, ages 3-5, from the St. Louis metropolitan area. She also directed Dateline to call a colleague, Dr. Valerie Lawrence, a psychology professor at Kennasaw State University, in Georgia, who also was doing similar work in the field. Participants not only came from the community, but many of the 55 children interviewed have a tie to the University -- either a parent or close family member is employed here.
The interviews took place over three days in the Psychological Services Center, located in Shannon Hall. Hidden cameras and microphones captured the children's reactions to the studies in a playroom, while their parents watched via monitors in an adjoining room. Before and after the testing, parents were interviewed by Dateline NBC correspondent Len Cannon, who also is a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News.
"I was delighted to have Dateline here," said Dr. Phyllis Terry Friedman, director of the Psychological Services Center. "We have just refurbished our play room, and it provided a bright and cheery place for the children to be interviewed."
Jones interviewed some of the children herself, but many of the sessions were conducted by her doctorate students. The students participating were: Danielle Pauley, Nicole Thomson, Shawana Johnson, Marvin Tobias and Melanie Echols.
"It was a valuable experience in that it gave me the opportunity to see what goes into an actual news show," Johnson said. "I had no idea that it takes so much effort. It also was great to be able to speak and network with Len Cannon."
While at SLU, the Dateline crew took the opportunity to photograph some of the most beautiful parts of campus and filmed Jones in a class Jan. 10.
"It was a lot of hard work, but I found it to be a really enjoyable experience," Jones said. "And it was a great opportunity to gain exposure for Saint Louis University and the work we're doing in the psychology department."
Dateline may be back in New York putting the piece together, but Jones, who teaches child psychology and facilitates the human diversity course on the graduate level, isn't resting on her laurels. Her latest research shifts the focus to gender issues, and Jones is awaiting reviews of a paper co-authored with Echols, graduate student Gia Washington and Wanda Dennis, a former graduate student.
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