Inducing perceived group variability triggers the incorporation of counter-stereotypic information into a generalized stereotype change.

Perceived variability is the extent to which individuals perceive group members as being similar to one another. Previous research has focused on how: group variability is perceived (and measured); information indicative of group heterogeneity can lead to reductions in stereotypicality; or how stereotype-inconsistent information can result into increased perceived variability. The present combines the three lines of research into a single research venue. In previous studies the stereotypicality of a group representation was influenced by priming stereotype-unrelated traits in an unrelated-context, prior to stereotype measurement; but priming counter-stereotypic traits had no effect on stereotypicality, although it boosted perceptions of group's variability. The present study examines whether highlighting dissimilarities among members of the same professional groups results in subsequent changes in the reported stereotype for a, not yet mentioned, group. The more the dissimilarity among group members, the more likely individuals were to incorporate counter-stereotypic information into the targeted-group, described as less stereotypic, even in central tendency measures. Importantly, the generating mechanism may involve a modification of participants' overall perception of variability. When members within professional groups are perceived as dissimilar, the well-known resistance of stereotypes to counter-stereotypic information is lessened making the group representations more flexible and less biased.

The impact of stereotype-incongruent information on perceived group variability and stereotype change.

Three experiments showed increases in the perceived variability of social groups after perceivers received stereotype-incongruent information about group members. In Experiment 1, participants generated flatter distributions after exposure to incongruent information, compared with equally deviant congruent information, in the form of typical verbal materials. Experiment 2 indicated similar changes in dispersion after the presentation of numeric information about a single group member. In Experiment 3, the authors manipulated cognitive load at encoding or at the time group judgments were requested. Under conditions of cognitive constraint, stereotype-incongruent information ceased to promote more dispersed group representations. These results are consistent with the idea that incongruent information triggers more deliberative and comprehensive retrieval and generation of exemplars. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for stereotype change.

Resolving the apparent discrepancy between the incongruency effect and the expectancy-based illusory correlation effect: the TRAP model.

The incongruency effect and the expectancy-based illusory correlation effect seem contradictory because they describe apparently contrasting consequences of previously held expectancies: better recall of incongruent than congruent items but overestimation of congruent items. This article resolves this dilemma by presenting a model that is able to simultaneously predict both of these effects. The Twofold Retrieval by Associative Pathways (TRAP) model adopts the encoding assumptions of person memory models but distinguishes between two different retrieval processes, exhaustive and heuristic, hypothesized to underlie recall and frequency estimation, respectively. Experiment 1 showed that expectancy-based illusory correlation effects and incongruency effects are compatible in that they were produced simultaneously. Experiments 2 and 3 tested and rejected alternative explanations for the obtained pattern of results.