Lecture 12 - Hamilton & Gifford Flashcards
What is the concept of “cognitive misers” in social cognition?
“Cognitive misers” refers to the idea that humans have limited cognitive resources and tend to avoid extensive effort by relying on mental shortcuts, such as categorization, to simplify complex social information.
What is illusory correlation?
Illusory correlation is the tendency to perceive a relationship between two variables (e.g., group membership and behavior) that does not actually exist or is much weaker than believed.
What was the central finding of Hamilton and Gifford’s 1976 study on illusory correlation?
Participants rated the minority group (Group B) more negatively than the majority group (Group A), even though the ratio of positive to negative behaviors was the same for both groups. This demonstrated the illusory correlation effect.
In Hamilton & Gifford’s Study 1, how were the behaviors of Group A and Group B distributed?
Group A had 26 statements (18 desirable, 8 undesirable), and Group B had 13 statements (9 desirable, 4 undesirable).
What was the hypothesis in Hamilton & Gifford’s Study 1 regarding participants’ ratings of Group B?
The hypothesis was that participants would rate Group B more negatively than Group A, despite both groups having the same ratio of desirable to undesirable behaviors. This was due to Group B’s minority status and the distinctiveness of undesirable behavior.
What were the results of Hamilton & Gifford’s Study 1 in terms of participants’ ratings?
Participants rated Group B more negatively than Group A, showing an illusory correlation between the minority group and undesirable behavior, even though the behavior ratios were identical.
What did Hamilton & Gifford’s Study 2 focus on, and what did it reveal?
Study 2 examined whether statistical rarity alone could explain the illusory correlation. It showed that participants remembered rare desirable behaviors of Group B more frequently, reinforcing that distinctiveness, not desirability, led to the illusory correlation.
What criticism of Hamilton & Gifford’s study arises from external validity?
Critics argue that in the real world, we usually have more information about groups than just individual behaviors, which makes the findings less applicable to real-life stereotype formation.
How does the mere exposure effect challenge Hamilton & Gifford’s findings?
The mere exposure effect suggests that more frequent exposure to Group A (the majority group) would lead to greater familiarity and liking. However, this does not explain the findings in Study 2, where desirable behaviors of the minority group (Group B) were remembered more frequently.
How does skewed distribution challenge the illusory correlation explanation?
Fiedler (1991) argued that the illusory correlation might result from random information loss due to the larger number of behaviors for Group A. Small groups’ behaviors are more likely to be forgotten, leading to a distorted impression of the minority group.
What is the meaning-based explanation for stereotype formation?
According to McGarty et al. (1993), stereotypes arise because individuals are motivated to differentiate between groups. This differentiation helps individuals navigate complex social environments, making stereotypes more flexible and adaptive.
What did Hamilton & Sherman (1996) find in their follow-up research?
They showed that White Americans tend to overestimate the arrest rate of African Americans due to the illusory correlation between minority status and rare events (e.g., arrests).
What lasting impact did Hamilton & Gifford’s research have on social psychology?
Their work provided a cognitive explanation for how stereotypes form, showing how people perceive false relationships between group membership and behaviors based on rarity or distinctiveness.
What is a criticism of the purely cognitive explanation of illusory correlations?
Meaning-based theories, such as self-categorization theory, suggest that people stereotype not only because of cognitive biases but also due to social and motivational factors, such as the desire to differentiate groups for adaptive reasons.
What are the two key features that contribute to illusory correlation?
The two key features are distinctiveness (rare events stand out) and statistical infrequency (rare events are more memorable), which combine to create distorted perceptions of groups.
How did Hamilton & Gifford’s work contribute to the understanding of stereotype formation?
Hamilton & Gifford’s work showed that cognitive biases, such as illusory correlations, play a central role in stereotype formation, providing a simple, yet powerful, explanation for why stereotypes exist.
