Vaness Cox
Title: Raunchy or Respectable? How Black Adults’ Consumption of Popular Media Affects their Perceptions of Women and Mothers

Abstract: Although African Americans are heavy media consumers, we know little of how media content shapes their beliefs about women and women’s roles. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the associations between consumption of popular media and idealistic beliefs about women and motherhood. Participants were 484 Black adults who completed a survey that assessed exposure to 50 reality TV programs, perceived realism of reality TV, social media use, identification with 12 conventional or sexual-presenting celebrity mothers, endorsement of the heterosexual script, and endorsement of stereotypical beliefs about women and mothers. The results highlight the importance of assessing different forms of media consumption.

Bio: Vaness Cox is a third-year doctoral student in Developmental Psychology. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she attended the University of Missouri, Columbia where she earned degrees in Sociology and Psychology, with a minor in Black Studies. Currently, her research involves understanding how Black women are portrayed in the media and how these portrayals relate to Black adolescents’ and young adults’ perceptions of Black women. She is particularly interested in the portrayals and perceptions of Black mothers.

Danielle Labotka
Title: Children’s Understanding of Foreigner Talk and Use of Cues in Identifying Foreigner Talk

Abstract: Whenever a person addresses their interlocutor, they adjust their style of speech according to whom they are talking and in what context. Such changes in speech associated with particular addressees or contexts are known as registers. Although children’s use of certain registers such as Baby Talk is well-documented, little is known regarding when and how children expect non-native speakers to receive a particular register of address known as Foreigner Talk. In Study 1, 4-8-year-old children and adults heard a series of registers –Foreigner Talk, Baby Talk, Peer Talk, and Teacher Talk– and were asked to choose the corresponding target addressee. In Study 2, 5-8-year-old children and adults participated in a register match task in which three cues were manipulated: Language, Appearance, and Origin. Together, the findings of these studies speak to children’s developing understanding of Foreigner Talk and its addressees.

Bio: Danielle Labotka is a third year PhD candidate in Developmental Psychology working with Susan Gelman and Henry Wellman. She received her B.A. in Comparative Human Development from the University of Chicago where she worked in the Development of Social Cognition Lab studying the role of language experience in children’s understanding of pragmatics and in the Infant Learning and Development Lab assisting with cross-cultural research. Her recent work explores how communicative interactions between native and non-native speakers may impact children’s reasoning about non-native speakers.