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The ethnic identification skills and ethnic preferences of white and Mexican-American first- and third-grade males and females were investigated. Subjects were asked a series of identification questions and responded to each item by selecting a photograph of a male or female white, Mexican-American, or black child. Preferences for ethnic groups were indicated by the selection of a classmate in response to each of a series of preference questions. Both white and Mexican-American subjects made accurate self-identifications. All subjects were able to identify other persons along an ethnic dimension. All white subjects indicated strong preferences for white classmates. With one exception, preferences of Mexican-American groups for white versus Mexican-American classmates did not significantly differ from chance.

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Nine groups of 50 college students responded to acceptance (imitation) and recall questions after being exposed to one of three written modeling sequences (prosocial, neutral, or aggressive), each of which included one of three types of vicarious consequences (positive, neutral, or negative). The results provided strong support for the theoretical predictions regarding the influence of written vicarious consequences on acceptance and recall of modeled behaviors. Regardless of the type of story, positive vicarious consequences led to a significantly higher level of acceptance of the modeled actions than did negative vicarious consequences. The effects of neutral vicarious consequences on acceptance varied with the nature of the modeling story. Although positive and negative vicarious consequences generally led to higher levels of overall recall than did neutral vicarious consequences, patterns of overall recall varied across the three types of stories. Similarly, analyses of the three components (details, behaviors, consequences) of the overall recall measure indicated that recall patterns were inconsistent across the three types of stories. Thus, the results of the present study indicate the importance of considering both vicarious consequences and the situations in which these consequences occur. Furthermore, the effects of written vicarious consequences appear to parallel those of live and/or taped consequences. Continued investigation of these effects is highly warranted.Books, magazines, and newspapers are abundant sources of information on a wide variety of topics. Whether fact or fiction, it would appear that such written material can convey many modeling cues to readers. However, despite the large amount of research on modeling and imitative behavior, the overwhelming majority has employed live or taped modeling and reinforcement stimuli (e.g.,

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