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Seeing Change

Young Children Can Unlearn Racial Stereotyping

New research by Paul Quinn, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Delaware, and his collaborators across the globe, have found a simple exercise that can undo the unconscious racial biases that may begin to develop as early as infancy.

Quinn learned that 3-month-olds begin showing a visual preference for the same race they see most often in their daily lives. By 9 months, infants not only distinguish racial categories, but also become less able to tell different individuals apart if they are members of a less-familiar race.

In the experiment, the scientists morphed together photos of African and Asian faces to create ambiguous images that looked equally African and Asian. As a result, Quinn reports, “At 9 months, they didn’t respond to the differences between the African and Asian categories, but instead they had two less discriminatory broad categories; ‘own race’ and ‘other race’. We think it might be a precursor to an initial ‘in group/out group’ differentiation and suggest that perceptual and social processing of faces may overlap, even in infants.”

Source: LaboratoryEquipment.com

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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