Black Doll White Doll Experiment

Description: The Clark’s most famous psychological experiment was the Black Doll / White Doll Experiment that grew out of Mamie Clark’s master’s thesis. They published three articles about the experiment in 1939 and 1940. In this experiment, school children in Washington, DC and in New York City were shown two dolls that differed only in color: one doll was white with blonde hair, the other doll was brown with black hair. The children were asked a series of questions about which doll was nice, which was mean, and which one they wanted to play with. The results showed a clear preference for the white doll by both white and black students, demonstrating a pervasive level of internalized racism by black children.

Experiment Psychologist: Kenneth B. Clark, Mamie P. Clark

Related Concept(s): Social Psychology

Experimental Approaches: Observation Methods, Forced Choice Testing Method

Location: United States

Began: 1940

Show more information

Browse Experiment - 17 results

Anderson Cooper 360: Doll study psychologist: Parental role

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: Doll study psychologist: Parental role

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

CNN's doll study psychologist weighs in on parental involvement and kids and race.

Sample

Anderson Cooper 360: Doll study psychologist: What next?

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: Doll study psychologist: What next?

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

CNN doll study psychologist weighs in on where we go from here with kids on race.

Sample

Anderson Cooper 360: Father reacts to daughter's doll test

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: Father reacts to daughter's doll test

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

As a part of AC360's Doll Study, CNN's Anderson Cooper talks to a father about his daughter's test.

Sample

Anderson Cooper 360: I'm upset of how my child views race

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: I'm upset of how my child views race

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

CNN's Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien talk with parents and publishers about kids' views on race.

Sample

Anderson Cooper 360: Mother reacts to daughter's doll test

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: Mother reacts to daughter's doll test

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

As a part of the AC360 Doll Study, CNN's Soledad O'Brien talks to one parent about her daughter's test.

Sample

Anderson Cooper 360: Study shows how children view race bias

See details

Anderson Cooper 360: Study shows how children view race bias

(2010),
Source: www.youtube.com

CNN's Anderson Cooper highlights a project that reveals how children view racial beliefs, attitudes and preferences.

Sample

Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power

See details

Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power

with Kenneth B. Clark, fl. 1940 (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1965, originally published 1965), 253 page(s)

Sample

See details

A Girl Like Me

(2007),
Source: www.youtube.com

Kiri Davis, a 17 year old Harlem student, recreates the famous doll experiment of the 1940's by psychologist Dr. Kenneth Clark.

Sample

See details

A Girl Like Me

(2007),
Source: www.youtube.com

Color is more than skin deep for young African-American women struggling to define themselves.

Sample

Intergroup Attitudes and Relations in Childhood Through Adulthood

See details

Intergroup Attitudes and Relations in Childhood Through Adulthood

edited by Sheri R. Levy and Melanie Killen (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010, originally published 2010), 287 page(s)

Sample

Pages