Gender schema theory revisited: men's stereotypes of American women

Bem's gender schema theory is reconsidered in terms of connections among schemas, stereotypes, and perceptions of self and others. The supposition that schematic, as opposed to aschematic persons, are more prone to think about others in stereotypic ways is tested. Primarily Caucasian adult men from all social classes (n=142), classified with the Bem Sex Role Inventory as masculine, androgynous, or undifferentiated, completed measures designed to assess strength of stereotypic views of American women and the tendency to think unidimensionally (the likelihood of perceiving women as feminine vs. androgynous). Results analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance, indicated significant differences among subject categories. Masculine (schematic) men were the most prone to see women as stereotypically high in femininity and low on masculinity. Androgynous men were more likely to perceive women as having androgynous characteristics.     

Traces of reasoning with pragmatic schemas

Holyoak and Cheng's (1995) account of Wason's (1966) selection task was evaluated by testing participants' recognition memory for the rule. To accommodate the finding that participants' selections are systematically influenced by manipulating their perspective on the rule to be tested, Holyoak and Cheng put forward a development of Pragmatic Reasoning Schema (PRS) theory, according to which the rule being tested is mapped onto different schematic rules depending on the perspective taken. The instantiated schema then becomes the basis for reasoning, and the different schemas encourage the selection of different cases. We hypothesised that if participants interpret the rule by instantiating a particular schema, then they should falsely recognise a sentence corresponding to the instantiated schema a short time after performing the task. An experimental test provided limited support for this hypothesis.     

Schema bias in source monitoring varies with encoding conditions: Support for a probability-matching account

Two experiments examined reliance on schematic knowledge in source monitoring. Based on a probability-matching account of source guessing, a schema bias will only emerge if participants do not have a representation of the source-item contingency in the study list, or if the perceived contingency is consistent with schematic expectations. Thus, the account predicts that encoding conditions that affect contingency detection also affect schema bias. In Experiment 1, the schema bias commonly found when schematic information about the sources is not provided before encoding was diminished by an intentional source-memory instruction. In Experiment 2, the depth of processing of schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent source-item pairings was manipulated. Participants consequently overestimated the occurrence of the pairing type they processed in a deep manner, and their source guessing reflected this biased contingency perception. Results support the probability-matching account of source guessing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Academic Self-Schemas and their Self-Congruent Learning Patterns: Findings Verified with Culturally Different Samples

This paper reported two studies investigating high school students’ academic self-schemas in learning mathematics and their self-congruent learning engagement patterns. Using cluster analyses, Study 1 located two contrasting groups of students holding positive and negative self-schemas in learning mathematics among Chinese participants. MANOVA analyses showed that these two groups of Chinese schematic students differed from each other in the use of achievement goals, approaches to learning, and expected levels of performance. These findings were validated and extended in Study 2 using a culturally different sample, Australian students. Again, cluster analyses successfully classified Australian participants into positive and negative schematic clusters. It was also found that these two groups of schematic students approached learning mathematics in a self-congruent manner similar to those found in Study 1. The converging results in both studies lent empirical support to the theoretical formulation of positive and negative schematic students and the validity of using the self-schema concept to investigate motivation and learning. The differences in their learning engagement patterns were discussed in terms of students’ different academic self-schemas in learning mathematics.     

Pythagorean distance and the judged similarity of schematic stimuli

Independent groups of Ss rated the similarity of pairs of patterns belonging to the same class, either bef ore or af ter a discrimination task of schematic concept formation (SCF). Mean similarity increased as a function of SCF pretraining. A linear relationship was found between a Pythagorean distance measure on the patterns and subjective similarity of pairs of stimuli (r=.88). No such relationship was obtained from an analysis of judgments from a group that viewed random, nonschematic stimuli. A secondary analysis of the discrimination judgments in the SCF task showed that the Pythagorean distance measure was predictive of judgments on pairs of stimuli from the same schema family, but the relationship did not hold for pairs representing two different schemata. Multidimensional scaling analyses indicated that mildly deviant schematic stimuli were perceived to be instances of a single family. The dimensions describing a schema cluster appeared to be specific to the sample of stimuli. A tendency for the Kruskal procedures to collapse certain types of stimulus clusters was observed and discussed.     

Categorization of Prototypical Stimulus Classes by Pigeons

Previous findings have demonstrated the pigeon's ability to categorize sets of schematic faces defined by a polymorphous feature rule. We present here an experiment that was conducted to evaluate the influence of the category structure determined by the distribution of features across stimulus classes. The task was a middle-value discrimination, involving a band of positive stimuli surrounded by a band of negative stimuli. Two large sets of Brunswik faces were conceptualized as variations of a standard stimulus (prototype) and occupied highly overlapping regions in the feature space. The classes could be separated in terms of a distance-from-prototype rule. Only three of five animals were successful in classification training. Analyses of both the transfer performance and of the effects of feature values on the variance of responding revealed the classical prototype effect-that is, performance determined by the overall similarity to the central tendency of the classes. A theoretical evaluation of the data examines the possibility that pigeons discriminated between the classes by virtue of a prototype-distance rule, although exemplar models offer more parsimonious accounts.     

Age-related schema reliance of judgments of learning in predicting source memory

Source memory refers to mental processes of encoding and making attributions to the origin of information. We investigated schematic effects on source attributions of younger and older adults for different schema-based types of items, and their schema-utilization of judgments of learning (JOLs) in estimating source memory. Participants studied statements presented by two speakers either as a doctor or a lawyer: those in the schema-after-encoding condition were informed their occupation only before retrieving, while those of schema-before-encoding were presented the schematic information prior to study. Immediately after learning every item, they made judgments of the likelihood for it to be correctly attributed to the original source later. In the test, they fulfilled a task of source attributing. The results showed a two-edged effect of schemas: schema reliance improved source memory for schema-consistent items while impaired that for schema-inconsistent items, even with schematic information presented prior to encoding. Compared with younger adults, older adults benefited more from schema-based compensatory mechanisms. Both younger and older adults could make JOLs based on before-encoding schematic information, and the schema-based JOLs were more accurate in predicting source memory than JOLs made without schema support. However, even in the schema-after-encoding condition, older adults were able to make metacognitive judgments as accurately as younger adults did, though they did have great impairments in source memory itself.     

When Does Gender Count? Further Insights into Gender Schematic Processing of Female Candidates' Political Advertisements

In this study we explored viewers' responses to advertising by female political candidates. Gender schema theory provided the basis for developing a better understanding of the circumstances when voters evaluate female candidates and how cognitive representations of what women are like influence viewer responses. Results showed general support for the predictions derived from gender schema theory. That is, participants did seem to rely on gender schema in making judgments, a form of inference making known as “default processing,” when information was absent. Results also indicated that participants relied more on gender schematic processing when the advertisement elicited positive emotions and less on gender schematic processing when exposed to an attack ad. For comparison, viewers' responses to male candidates' political advertising were also examined. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for political campaigns.     

A comparison of simple correction and functional feedback in schema learning

The role of knowledge of results (KR) in a schematic concept formation task was clarified by manipulating the specificity of information provided during feedback. Ss learned to discriminate between pairs of random forms from two schema families. Verbal correction was compared with a functional KR procedure in which the schema prototypes were superimposed over test stimuli. In no case did verbal correction improve learning in comparison with functional KR. Differences in acquisition persisted in a retention test.     

Children's and adults' recall of sex‐stereotyped toy pictures: Effects of presentation and memory task

Gender schema theories predict a memory bias toward sex‐congruent information. The present study examined how presentation of stimuli and encoding conditions influence gender schematic processing in children and adults. One hundred and sixty 5‐ to 13‐year olds and adult males and females viewed 36 sex‐stereotyped toy pictures that were presented in a static and dynamical way. Half of the participants were asked to memorize the pictures (intentional memory) and half were not told that they would be expected to later recall the pictures (incidental memory). Weak gender schematic processing was observed only during the incidental memory task. Children and adults recalled more static than dynamic gender‐stereotyped pictures, and performance was superior in the intentional than in the incidental memory condition. Gender schematic processing was similar across the age groups. In addition, participants were more likely to recall male‐stereotyped toys. Implications for gender schema theories and education are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affective review and schema reliance in memory in older and younger adults

Previous studies have found that, when remembering, older adults often rely more on schematic knowledge than do younger adults. We replicated this finding when participants were induced to review the facts of the event; furthermore, neuropsychological correlates suggested that this age-related increase in schema reliance is associated with declines in reflective processes. In addition, when they were induced to focus on their feelings and reactions when reviewing an event, both older and younger adults' later memory of the event was strongly affected by their schematic knowledge.     

Migration of objects and inferences across episodes

Participants viewed episodes in the form of a series of photographs portraying ordinary routines (e.g., eating at a restaurant) and later received a recognition test. In Experiment 1, it was shown that objects (e.g., a vase of flowers, a pewter lantern) that appeared in a single episode during the study phase migrated between memories of episodes described by the same abstract schema (e.g., from Restaurant Episode A at study to Restaurant Episode B at test), and not between episodes anchored by different schemas. In Experiment 2, it was demonstrated that backward causal inferences from one study episode influenced memories of other episodes described by the same schema, and that high-schema-relevant items viewed in one episode were sometimes remembered as having occurred in another episode of the same schematic type.     

The impact of gender schematic processing on the Self Directed Search responses of gifted and talented female adolescents

According to gender schema theory (S. L. Bem, Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 1981, 88, 354–364), gender schematic processing not only restricts assimilation of information into the self-concept to that which is congruent with the gender schema but also restricts the individual's response patterns in that responses are based on gender schema congruence or incongruence rather than upon a complete memory search. As a result of such gender schematic processing, the response patterns of gifted and talented female adolescents on Holland's (1977) Self Directed Search (SDS) should vary as a function of their gender schema. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were conducted on the SDS responses of 284 gifted and talented female adolescents to test whether sex-typed female adolescents would score significantly higher on the gender congruent Social, Artistic, and Conventional dimensions while scoring significantly lower on the gender incongruent Investigative, Enterprising, and Realistic dimensions than did their cross sex-typed counterparts. The results indicated that while SDS total scores did vary significantly as a function of gender group, the direction of noted group differences failed to provide consistent support for predictions derived from gender schema theory. An alternative interpretation based on a generalization of Gottfredson's theory is discussed.     

Self-schemas and risk for depression: a prospective study

The role of depressive self-schemas in vulnerability to depression was explored in a longitudinal design. Five groups of subjects hypothesized to be at differential risk for depression according to a schema model were identified: depressed schematic, depressed nonschematic, nondepressed schematic, nondepressed nonschematic, and a psychopathology control. They were followed regularly for 4 months with self-report and clinical interview measures of depression. There was no evidence of risk for depression associated with schema status apart from initial mood and no interaction of life stress events and schemas. In a second experiment with the same subjects, it was shown that depressive self-schemas do not exert an ongoing, active influence on everyday information processing; instead current mood affected information processing. Remitted depressed persons resembled nondepressed rather than depressed ones. The results support Kuiper and colleagues' distinction between concomitant and vulnerability schemas, and help to clarify differences between cognitions that are symptoms or correlates of depression and those that may play a causal role under certain conditions.     

问题解决中图式的建构:一项应用题分类研究

以小学三、四年级的60名儿童为被试,采用对基本算术应用题分类的方法测量图式,探讨了图式的作用以及影响图式获得的因素。结果表明,被试对问题的分类有前图式水平、图式水平、按解题程序分类三种情况,前两个水平又分成若干亚水平;图式的水平对问题解决成绩有预测作用;图式的水平和问题解决成绩均有显著的性别差异,女生优于男生。     

Hierarchical modeling of contingency-based source monitoring: A test of the probability-matching account

According to the probability-matching account of source guessing (Spaniol & Bayen, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 28:631–651, 2002), when people do not remember the source of an item in a source-monitoring task, they match the source-guessing probabilities to the perceived contingencies between sources and item types. In a source-monitoring experiment, half of the items presented by each of two sources were consistent with schematic expectations about this source, whereas the other half of the items were consistent with schematic expectations about the other source. Participants’ source schemas were activated either at the time of encoding or just before the source-monitoring test. After test, the participants judged the contingency of the item type and source. Individual parameter estimates of source guessing were obtained via beta-multinomial processing tree modeling (beta-MPT; Smith & Batchelder, Journal of Mathematical Psychology 54:167–183, 2010). We found a significant correlation between the perceived contingency and source guessing, as well as a correlation between the deviation of the guessing bias from the true contingency and source memory when participants did not receive the schema information until retrieval. These findings support the probability-matching account.     

Processing of ambiguous and unambiguous feedback by depressed and nondepressed college students: schematic biases and their implications for depressive realism

Explored schematic processing as a mechanism for predicting (a) when depressed Ss would be negative relative to nondepressed Ss and (b) when depressed and nondepressed Ss would show biased or unbiased (i.e., "realistic") processing. Depressed and nondepressed Ss performed multiple trials of a task under conditions in which the two groups held either equivalent or different schemas regarding this task. Ss received either an unambiguous or objectively normed ambiguous feedback cue on each trial. In full support of schematic processing, depressed Ss showed negative encoding relative to nondepressed Ss only when their schemas were more negative, and both depressed and nondepressed Ss showed positively biased, negatively biased, and unbiased encoding depending on the relative feedback cue-to-schema match. Depressed and nondepressed Ss' response latencies to unambiguous feedback also supported the occurrence of schematic processing. We discuss the methodological, treatment, and "realism" implications of these findings and suggest a more precise formulation of Beck's schema theory of depression.     

Developmental Differences in Understanding and Solving Simple Mathematics Word Problems

The hypothesis was tested that older chidren, fifth/sixth graders versus third graders, who are more accurate in word problem solution, would show evidence of problem differentiation consistent with schema theories of problem representation and solution. A mathematics word problem sorting task and an accuracy test were used to assess problem representation and accuracy of solution across 16 different problem types. Cluster analyses of sorting data revealed that older children demonstrated sorting patterns consistent with a refined schema theory. Younger children were both less accurate and less systematic in their sorting. Idealized sorting patterns representing schema theories as well as surface structure problem similarity were tested against actual sorting patterns. Regression analyses confirmed that the fifth/sixth graders' and third graders' sorting data were best fit by a schematic sort and by a surface structure sort, respectively. Additionally, an English versus Spanish language contrast showed no effect of language on either accuracy of solution or the sorting patterns of the math word problems.