PSYC12H3 Chapter 2: PSYC12 Textbook chapter 2
Document Summary
Chapter 2: origin and maintenance of stereotypes and prejudice. cognitive psychologists found that the human brain seems to almost automatically classify/categorize similar objects in the environment. prejudice researchers to change their conceptualization of the nature of stereotyping. stereotypes were no longer regarded as the product of lazy thinking by the uneducated or those with moral deficiencies. stereotypes as a natural consequence of cognition. humans have a limited capacity cognitive system that cannot simultaneously process all the available information in our social environment. Because we have a need to understand and even anticipate the behaviour of others, humans have developed ways around our limited cognitive system. we also have the tendency to group characteristics with certain shared features. basic categories are used often in perceiving people that they are central points around which stereotypes develop. in milliseconds, evoke the associated cognitions, beliefs, and feelings one has for that group.
