The purpose of this study was to reexamine the development of racial conceptions and attitudes in black children. It was hypothesized that impersonal cognitive development precedes and influences the development of interpersonal cognition, which then influences the development of social affect (racial evaluations and preferences). Level of impersonal cognitive functioning was assessed for 80 black children by four measures of conservation. Within the social cognitive domain, the extent to which the child used race as a classification for family members was measured. The child's evaluation and preference for African and European racial stimuli, and the understanding of the immutability of race, were also measured. Evidence was found in support of the hypotheses. (Author/RLV)