DEVELOPMENT AND MENTAL REPRESENTATION OF STEREOTYPES

A mixed model of stereotype representation was tested. Experiment 1 ex amined the development of stereotypes about novel groups. Results show ed that, at low levels of experience, stereotypic group knowledge is d erived from information about particular group exemplars. However, as experience increases, an abstract group stereotype is formed that is s tored and retrieved independently of the exemplars on which it was bas ed. Results of Experiment 2 suggest that preexisting stereotypes about well-known groups are represented as abstract structures in memory. T hese results indicate that stereotypical knowledge is most likely to b e exemplar-based in the absence of abstract stereotypes. The implicati ons of these findings for other aspects of stereotyping and social per ception are discussed.