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Related Experiment Videos

Violating stereotypes: eye movements and comprehension processes when text conflicts with world knowledge.

Susan A Duffy1, Jessica A Keir

  • 1University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. jlmyers@psych.umass.edu

Memory & Cognition
|October 14, 2004
PubMed
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Discourse context influences word meaning access. Gender stereotypes are automatically activated for role names unless context specifies gender, eliminating stereotype activation.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Gender stereotypes associated with occupational roles can influence language processing.
  • The role of discourse context in resolving semantic ambiguities during reading is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how discourse context affects the activation of gender stereotypes associated with role names during reading.
  • To examine the automaticity of stereotype activation and the role of contextual information in modulating this process.

Main Methods:

  • Participants read sentences containing gender-stereotyped role names (e.g., electrician) with or without preceding discourse context.
  • Eye movements were monitored to measure fixation times on target words and subsequent words.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experimental manipulation involved congruent vs. incongruent gender information in the discourse context.

    • Main Results:

    • In the absence of context, reading times for reflexive pronouns (e.g., herself) were longer when they mismatched the role name's gender stereotype.
    • This mismatch effect, indicating stereotype activation, was eliminated when prior discourse context provided disambiguating gender information.
    • The findings suggest automatic activation of gender stereotypes upon encountering role names.

    Conclusions:

    • Gender stereotypes are automatically activated during reading when encountering role names, unless context provides disambiguating information.
    • Discourse context plays a crucial role in modulating stereotype activation and resolving potential conflicts.
    • Results support models of lexical reinterpretation, where context influences meaning access.