3.3. Framing theory
3.3.2. Schemas & stereotypes
To gain a deeper understanding on priming, schemas and stereotypes have to be mentioned.
Stereotypes simplify the process of thinking about the social world (Feldman, 1986). Instead of keeping information about individuals and events are placed into groups. When information is needed about an individual or event (especially new situations), information will also be retrieved from the information that has already been grouped (Zimbardo, 1992). In instances where gaps of information have to be filled about the new situation, that information will also be retrieved from the grouped information (Feldman, 1996). William James, as quoted by Zimbardo (1992) had this positive to say about stereotypes, “stereotypes clarify the one great, blooming, buzzing confusion”. Walter Lippman said, “For the most part we do not first see, and then define; we define first, and then see”. Though these great positives, stereotyping has great negatives.
Robert L. Heilbroner (Zimbardo, 1992) summarised the negative aspects of stereotyping as follows:
Stereotypes may be based on inaccurate information-e.g. racial/ethnic stereotypes–
“The danger of stereotypes lies not in their existence, but in the fact that they become for all people some of the time, and for some people all of the time, substitutes for observation.”
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When stereotypes are believed to be true, they are not revised even in the face of contradictory evidence. “The exception proves the rule.” (i.e., the exceptions wouldn’t stand out so much if it were not true).
They impoverish our perception of the world and ourselves.
We can become slaves to the stereotypes we hold for our own group and incapable of individual action.
There are many common stereotypes that already exist concerning individuals and groups. For example Asians have high IQ, Black people can dance and white people cannot; Most criminals are black males; Afrikaners are racist, etc. stereotypes can be both positive and negative and they lead to the formation of schemas (Murphy, 2007).
Schemas are a concept first put forward by Sir Frederic Bartlett (1932), a British psychologist.
He proposed that people tend to remember information in terms of schemes. Schemes are general themes that contain relatively little specific details (Feldman, 1996). Memory is reconstructed from previous experiences and exposures to situations, as unimportant details are taken out (Zimbardo, 1992). Schemas are not only based on the exposure or experiences but also on understanding the situation, expectations about the situation and awareness of the motivation underlying the behaviour of others (Bartlett, 1932). Once formed, schemas exert a powerful influence on the way an individual predicts what objects are likely to be present in a given context (Zimbardo, 1992).
Much of what we know is stored as schemas. According to Zimbardo (1992) story title give us schemas that help us make sense of elements in the plot and enable us to remember relevant sections of the story. When elements don’t fit with the title, reconstructive memory has trouble.
When trying to recall information that is not consistent with a schema formed about certain individuals or situations, the memory may distort the input to make it more schema-consistent (Bartlett, 1932).
To demonstrate the operation of schemas, researchers employed a process known as serial reproduction. The process involves information from memory being passed sequentially from one person to another (Feldman, 1996). For example briefly look at Figure 3.2 adapted from Allport and Postman (1958), and then try to describe it without looking at it again. Then ask that person to describe it to another person and repeat the process with one more person. If you listen to the last man’s report of the contents of the drawing, you are most likely to find that it
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differs in important respects from the drawing itself. According to Allport and Postman (1958), many people recall the drawing as showing the knife in the black man’s hand; clearly this is an incorrect recollection.
Figure 3.2: Allport and Postman’s illustration of the role in expectation in memory
This example illustrates the role of expectations in memory. The migration of the knife from the white person’s hand to the black man’s hand in memory depicts that expectations about the world have an impact on how events are recalled (Allport & Postman, 1958). The expectation in this case is that black males are more violent than whites and thus more apt to be holding the knife. This unfortunately is an unwarranted prejudice. The merits of this theory will be further explored in the Conclusion and Recommendations chapter.
The phenomenon of people having memories about which they are unaware is an important one. It had led to the discovery that two forms of memory may exist side by side, namely the explicit and the implicit memories (Garf & Masson, 1993). Explicit memory refers to intentional or conscious recollection of information. When trying to remember a name or a location, we are
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using explicit memory. Implicit memory on the other hand refers to memories of which people are not consciously aware, but they can affect subsequent performance and behaviour (Feldman, 1996). When our behaviour is affected by something we are unable to recall, implicit memory is at work. For example, a serial killer who kills women of a particular age group might have experienced something in childhood that makes them commit these types of killings.
Though they are unable to recall the experience, their behaviour is affected nonetheless. The reason for mentioning priming is to try to speculate and elucidate to the potential effects that newspaper reports have on their audiences. Though priming is fundamentally psychological, framing cannot be understood without it.