ABSTRACT
In the present chapter, we further extend and refine our framework for studying stereotype learning and hypothesis testing in a social environment of increasing complexity. Whereas Chapter 6 raised the structure of stereotypical hypothesistesting tasks from bi-variate 2 2 contingencies to tri-variate 2 2 2 contingencies, the present chapter will maintain this level of dimensionality but at the same time raise the number of levels per dimension. Thus, rather than comparing only the behavioral outcomes (success, positivity) of two targets in two different environments, the experimental task to be introduced now will call for the assessment of the performance of as many as 16 different targets in up to 8 different contexts. As we will see, the resulting task will still be sensible and manageable; that is, the complexity of information processing will not lead to a total breakdown in information processing. In fact, the experimental task situation will turn out to be quite realistic and very common. It is the task of a teacher who has to figure out the performance level of a class of 16 different students in 8 different disciplines, or lessons. Real teachers manage such tasks all the time. Experiments from a simulated school class will corroborate that environmental learning is less restricted by capacity constraints than one might expect from the crucial role devoted to cognitive load and resource limitations in the animistic approach to stereotyping. To provide an overview:
• We will first introduce the task setting and the experimental method underlying the simulated classroom.
