The Cognitive Organization of Gender-Stereotypic Categories

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Abstract
The present study examined the hypothesis that if stereotypic categories function as categorical schemas to organize social information in memory, then they should be grouped together in memory, and such organization should be reflected by the clustering of categories in free recall. Gender stereotypic categories of women and their defining attributes, all generated by a large group of subjects in a previous study, were used to test this proposition. Analysis of free recall protocols indicated that stereotypic category attributes were significantly grouped together by category. This result was impressive, in that only minimal cues to stereotypic categories were available; that is, standard memory test instructions were given with no mention of stereotypes in either the instructions or the stimulus list. The results support the notion that stereotypic categories act as organizational schemas for social memory.

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