Children's conceptions of characteristic features of category members

The authors investigated children's conceptions of the characteristic featu res of category members and found that their conceptions underwent qualitat ive developmental changes. They hypothesized that (a) children initially te nd to perceive category members in terms of individual characteristics (i.e ., internal dispositions and behavioral patterns) and (b) only later do the y conceive of category members in terms of their shared beliefs and values. They explored these hypotheses in 2 studies: In Study 1, they investigated how Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland understood the re ligious intergroup context in their own country; in Study 2, children in It aly were presented with a fictional scenario of intergroup conflict and ask ed to explain the causes of the conflict. The results of both studies confi rmed the 2 hypotheses.