Cognitive Models of Sterotype Change .5.Measurement, and Consequences of Subtyping

Three experiments investigated the measurement, development, and consequences of subtyping in stereotype change. All three studies presented subjects with a pattern of stereotype-disconfirming information that was either concentrated within a few or dispersed across several group members. Experiment 1 crossed this pattern factor with order of rating and memory tasks and identified a new memory-based measure of subtyping (clustering of items in free recall by sub-category). Ratings on stereotype-inconsistent traits were lower and clustering scores higher in the concentrated condition, irrespective of order of tasks. Experiment 2 crossed pattern with whether stimulus information was blocked-by-person or unblocked. Ratings on stereotype-inconsistent traits were higher when information was both dispersed and blocked; subtyping was strong only when information was both concentrated and blocked. Experiment 3 crossed pattern with number of subtypes (one vs two), and found lower ratings on stereotype-inconsistent traits and higher subtyping in both the concentrated vs dispersed, and the two-vs one-subtype conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of subtyping and some limitations of the paradigm used. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.