perception theory 3 Flashcards
How do we organize our thoughts, memories and perceptions?
we often use a classification method called ‘categorisation’- grouping like or associated things
we use categories like; furnitures, dogs, shapes
categorisation can also be used to classify people
What definition did McGarty provide of categorisation?
‘the process of understanding what something is by knowing what other things it is equivalent to, and what other things it is different from’=
a flexible definition
What did Rosch, 1978 suggest?
most categories have uncertain or ‘fuzzy’ boundaries- defining category or group membership cannot be simply defined
What is Prototypicality?
the most representative members of a category based on an averaging of traits- (Barsalou. 1990) the representative heursitic, e.g a woman being a solider, you may be slow to categorize her as a solider because she is less representative and less prototypical
What are prototypes drawn from social categories referred to?
stereotypes
What is a stereotype?
provides a rule of thumb or heuristic (Bodenhausen,1990)
How does a stereotype form?
social learning and exposure do play a role.
illusory correlation
What is illusory correlation?
an important means by which stereotypes form- whereby two variables become associated where no true or little association exists (Chapman, 1967 and Hamilton + Gifford, 1976)
the minority group are viewed less favourably than the majority despite the same ratio of negative to positive info
negative info becomes highly associated with minorities
stereotype formation - Hamilton + Gifford, 1976
read info about both group A and B- 2x info (majority) for A. 1x info (minority) for group B. for both groups 2x info was ‘desirable’ behaviour. recall= more undesirable info about group B
What do categories provide?
structure and reduce the time we need to think about things- we are cognitive misers (Fiske + Taylor, 1991)
when we encounter someone for the first time under certain conditions we may well stereotype them because it provides structure= fast.
What are some conditions in which stereotyping can occur?
-similarity to stereotype
- time
- cognitive resources
- important of judgement
- information availability
- information conflict
What do we often without awareness categorize?
- on the basis of features encountered first- temporal primacy
- when differences are very salient- perceptual salience
- when are very used to classifying using particular categories- chronic accessibility
When is categorization not used?
Fiske and Neuberg, 1990 suggest that perception is based on a continuum from categorization through to individuation.
What is individuation?
refers to the ability to differentiate between group members based on their individual attributes- personalised attributes. it can occur when heuristic processing is difficult, there is a poor fit between the target person and category
What are dual process theories?
- categorization (heuristics)- cognitive miser
- individuation (personalised attributes)- naive scientist
- switching between strategies- motivated tactician
What is Fisk and Neuberg’s model (1990)?
continuum model
What is Brewer’s model?
dual process model
Disadvantages of categorization?
-typically leads to heightened accessibility of stereotype consistent info
-biases in minority groups- where undesirable traits come in to play
- prejudice- recall more favourable info about majority and negative about minority
- the negative traits become automated at an unconscious level
-bias
- unconscious procceses that influence our behaviour- controversial
What is Cohen, 1981 investigation?
showed p’s a video of a woman having a bday dinner, they were told she was either a librarian or a waitress. those who were told waitress were more likely to recall her drinking beer. those who were told librarian were more likely to recall her wearing glasses.
the associated stereotypes had biased their perceptions
When do automatic processes occur?
- outside of the conscious awareness
- without intention
- uncontrollable
- not effortful
What did Bargh, Chen and Burrows, 1996 experiment?
they primed p’s with scrambled sentences.
‘elderly’ condition words embedded in task were related to elderly stereotype (old, sentimental). in neutral condition the words were neutral
dependent variable was time taken to walk to a nearby elevator.
the elderly on average took longer to walk to elevator. the p’s behaved in line with the elderly stereotype- behavioural assimilation
