Are inferences from stereotyped role names to characters' gender made elaboratively?

Full Abstract

Two experiments provided evidence that gender stereotype inferences from role names--for example, that a surgeon is (probably) male--are made in a forward, elaborative, direction. We used sentences in which a person's gender was never made explicit, but was implied in two different ways. The two ways were by the use of a role name, and by mentioning an item of clothing (e.g., a bikini) or a biological characteristic (e.g., giving birth) that is typically associated with females or males. The two pieces of information (role name and clothing/biological characteristic) were presented in different orders in the two experiments. In both cases a mismatch between the associated genders slowed reading, showing that gender information has been activated. It is argued that if an inference about gender is made on the basis of the second piece of information, hence slowing comprehension, it is unlikely that the inference about gender based on the first piece of information was not made immediately.

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Author information

Author/s: Garnham, Alan (A); Oakhill, Jane (J); Reynolds, David (D);

Affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, England, UK. alang(-atsign-)biols.susx.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Memory & cognition (Mem Cognit), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Apr; vol 30 (issue 3) : pp 439-46

Dates: Created 2002/06/13; Completed 2002/07/03; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12061764, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Female
Humans
Judgment
Male

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