Final answer:
In the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court acknowledged the damaging psychological effects of segregated schools on Black children, influenced by social science studies that revealed segregation's impact on self-esteem and development.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Supreme Court recognized the psychological impact that segregated schools had on children in the Brown v. Board of Education case as pivotal for its decision.
Segregation in public education, it declared, fostered a sense of inferiority among Black children that could detrimentally affect their educational and mental development. The decision was heavily influenced by social science research, particularly the studies by Kenneth and Mamie Clark. Their experiments with dolls demonstrated how segregation harmed young Black children's self-esteem, leading to the conclusion that 'separate but equal' facilities were inherently unequal and unconstitutional.