Stereotyping as inductive hypothesis testing / Klaus Fiedler & Eva Walther.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fiedler, Klaus, 1951-

Contributor:

Walther, Eva, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stereotypes (Social psychology).

Hypothesis.

Social sciences--Research--Methodology.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

x, 198 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hove (UK) ; New York : Psychology Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Traditional social hypotheses have a built-in tendency to verify themselves and so involuntarily resist attempts at stereotype change or correction. This is the insight demonstrated and discussed as the start point for an alternative approach to the problem of stereotyping and hypothesis testing. Stereotyping as Inductive Hypothesis Testing explicates the proposition that many stereotypes originate not so much in individual brains, but in the stimulus environment that interacts with and constitutes the social individual. This cognitive-ecological approach is then used to analyse the different aspects of language, sign systems and communication that can implicitly govern hypothesis testing procedures and lead to circular or reinforcing outcomes. The authors describe factors in tests such as judgment, memory and expectation and go on to suggest viable ecological learning approaches to them. An original research project based on a classroom situation is used to demonstrate and verify findings. The cognitive-ecological approach is then contextualised in relation to both the traditional approaches it can replace and the contemporary statistical sampling practices it can improve. Written with a profound understanding of the link between theoretical rigour and good empirical research practice this monograph will be invaluable to anyone with an interest in stereotyping or who wishes to enhance the reliability and self-awareness of their research methods.

Contents:

The topic of social hypothesis testing

Stereotyping as a cognitive-environmental learning process : delineating the conceptual framework

Learning of social hypotheses stereotypes as illusory correlations

The auto-verification of social hypotheses

Information search in the "inner world" : the origin of stereotypes in memory

Testing social hypotheses in tri-variate problem space : further variants of environmental stereotype learning

Explicit and implicit hypothesis testing in a complex environment

The vicissitudes of information sampling in a fallible environment : an integrative framework

Epilogue: Locating CELA in modern stereotype research.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-186) and indexes.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

ISBN:

1-135-47104-5

1-135-47105-3

1-280-07741-7

0-203-64153-1

0-86377-832-1

9780203641538

OCLC:

56550792