Black six- and seven-year olds, living in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and participating in summer day camp programs sponsored by various public and private agencies, listened to prerecorded stories while attending to accom panying picture books. One third of the subjects were as signed to one of three experimental groups. Subjects in Experimental Group I listened to two stories with Black characters; subjects in Experimental Group II listened to the two stories with White characters; and subjects in Experi mental Group III listened to two stories with animal charac ters. After each story, the children were asked four questions designed to elicit their recall of the story's events and characters. The results are discussed within the theoretical framework of self-schema. Implications for the effects of educational material and media upon the learning behavior of Black children are examined.
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