Date Approved

4-30-2001

Embargo Period

6-2-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Klanderman, John

Committee Member 1

Dihoff, Roberta

Subject(s)

Color of eyes; Inhibition in children; Preschool children

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to study the rate of behavioral inhibition in preschoolers as related to eye color. One study was conducted on 50 preschool age children randomly selected from a learning center. Subjects were not chosen for specific behavioral characteristics, though an emphasis was put on acquiring an even number of blue-eyed children versus brown or green-eyed children. Twenty-two blue-eyed children and 28 brown-eyed and green-eyed children participated. Classroom teachers filled out the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation, Preschool Edition, based on observable characteristics demonstrated by each child. It is a Likert-scale rating form that compiles summary scale results for 8 basic domains. The Isolation-Integration domain was used for the purpose of this study. The results were analyzed using an independent sample T-test. Each child's score on the Isolation-Integration scale, and their eye color (blue or other) were analyzed. The results were significant for blue-eyed children demonstrating a mean score of Isolation/Inhibition lower than that of the other eye colors (the lower the score, the more socially inhibited the child). Therefore concluding that the study showed blue-eyed preschoolers in this sample had higher rates of inhibition.

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