U.S. Adults Believe That “Children” Are Color-Evasive and “Black Children” Process Race Early

Across five pre-registered studies (three main text, two supplement, one single-paper meta-analysis; <i>N</i>_total = 5,051), we test how adults' beliefs about children's engagement with race are shaped by children's specified race. We argue that specifying a child's race activates race-specific considerations that disrupt adults' default assumption that "children" (in generic terms) do not notice race or racial differences. As a result, adults perceive both Black children and White children as significantly more likely to notice race than "children." We also argue that the particular racial group specified shapes adults' perceptions of <i>when</i> race-related capacities develop. This causes adults to perceive Black children as developing race-related capacities earlier than both White children and "children." We connect these effects to differences in the timing and content of adult-child conversations about race and racism, showing that how adults construe children can change when and how they talk with them about race.