Running head: THE EFFECT OF STEREOTYPE PERCEPTION 1

The Effect of Stereotype Perception on Participant Performance

Abigail Alger

Catawba College

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Psychology 2222, Experimental

Psychology

April 30, 2018

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Abstract

Participants in this study were 48 college students (24 men, 24 women). Participants were

randomly assigned to read a scenario pertaining to either older or younger people. Within those

groups, participants were randomly assigned to read scenarios containing stereotypically age-

consistent situations or stereotypically age-inconsistent situations. These manipulations resulted

in a 2 x 2 (Target Age: Older vs. Younger x Consistency of Behavior: Consistent vs.

Inconsistent) between - subjects design. Participants then performed a cognitive task (word

search), a fine motor task (Porteus Maze), and a gross motor task (tossing balls). Four t-tests

revealed significance in the data gathered from the recall task given to participants after reading

the assigned scenario. After the data was collected, three separate one-way ANOVA test were

run and no significance was found for any of the dependent measures (maze time, successful

tosses, and correct words). The non- significance of the dependent measures means that

participants were not influenced by the primes in the scenarios. The significance in the results

from the recall task showed that there was consistency in the results of each condition within that

condition in terms of the number of details that were recalled after reading the scenario.
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The Effect of Stereotype Perception on the Performance of Tasks

Stereotypes impact many aspects of life. For example, many interactions between people are

influenced by stereotypes and the ideas people have regarding the stereotype (Bargh, Chen, &

Burrows, 1996). I will be examining the impact of exposure stereotypically consistent of

inconsistent primes. Research has shown negative stereotypes can have a physical, mental or

even social impact on any group (Robertson & Weiss, 2017). Likewise, it has been shown when

people believe a negative stereotype to be true, they are likely to let that ideology influence the

way they view the lives and abilities of others, as well as themselves (Nelson, 2016).

Perceptions, whether conscious or unconscious, have a large impact on how people behave

and react not only to other people but to the environment as well (Bargh et al., 1996). Human

beings have the ability to be influenced to behave differently through the process of priming

(Chambon, 2008). Priming is the preparation of a person for a task through the use of materials

which will have an impact on the behavior of that person without their full knowledge of the

impact occurring (Chambon, 2008).

In one particular study, Tuckman and Lorge (1952) assessed persons’ perceptions of older

adults. Participants’ answers showed that there was a typically negative perception of older

adults in general as well as older adults in the work place, leading researchers to propose the idea

of finding a way to change the negative perception of older adults and to educate all adults on the

aging process not only for their understanding over older adults around them, but for their own

benefit as well (Tuckman & Lorge,1952).

Research has shown that human responses to environment can be entirely automatic and can

influence both their perceptions and their emotions (Bargh et al., 1996). In an examination of

how age-related stereotypes impacted the perception of the social status of older people in a
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population, Robertson and Weiss (2017) examined if older adults are thought to have lower

social status than their middle - aged counterparts. Robertson and Weiss (2017) used the idea of

stereotypes often associated with older adults as they are seen holding higher ranking positions,

such as management, in the work force and presented them to young adults. The results showed

participants coming from countries where the leader was of an older age were significantly more

likely to have positive perceptions of older adults holding powerful positions in the work force

than those who had come from a country where the leader was of a younger age, suggesting that

perceptions of older people may be a function of distinct environmental and social cues

(Robertson & Weiss, 2017).

Additionally, in an investigation of how being exposed to older person stereotypes negatively

affect participants performance, Miller, Gordon, Olsson, Lundstrom, & Dalton (2013) examined

how the use of primes on participant performance on olfactory tasks and the impact of

stereotypes on motor behaviors. Participants took part in priming tasks (audio - visual

presentations) and then rated smells provided to them based on intensity, pleasantness, and

familiarity. In addition, reaction time and odor responses were recorded. While the results

indicate there was no effect of priming on the perception of the smells ratings of smell intensity,

there was evidence of an increase in reaction time and a decrease in walking speed of those who

were primed with the older person stereotypes (Miller et al., 2013).

Furthermore, in an exploration of how stereotypes regarding people with disabilities as well

as older people impact both motor and cognitive performance, Ginsberg, Rohmer & Louvet

(2012) performed a study with three different conditions (elder-neutral, disabled-neutral, and

elderly-disabled) to examine if exposure to these stereotypes caused an increase in reaction time

and a decrease in participants’ ability to perform. Participants were primed and then completed
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word scramble tests and motor tests. Participants who were primed under the elderly-disabled

stereotype performed significantly slower than those who had been exposed to the other two

stereotypes. A study performed by Chambon (2008), showed results which showed similarity to

the results of Ginsberg et al. (2012). In this study, participants had been exposed to one of two

groups which were primed with an elderly-person stereotype or a neutral non-stereotype. The

group which had been exposed to the elderly stereotype estimated distances to be longer and hills

to be higher (as was equivalent in the physiological potential of people who are older in age);

Chambon, 2008. In a study performed by Bargh et al. (1996), a similar situation was examined.

The researchers looked at how students’ behavior could be influenced through the completion of

a word scramble consisting of words which were associated with an elderly person stereotype.

This study included two groups, one which completed a word scramble consisting of words

associated with elderly people (which served as the prime) and another which consisted of

general words not related to a stereotype (which served as the neutral, or control, group in this

study). Bargh et al. (1996) found that participants who were exposed to the elderly person prime

showed a decrease in the speed at which they walked down a hallway after the experiment which

showed the initial claim made by the researchers to be accurate, in that this prime had been

successful.

In sum, the presence of negative stereotypes regarding older adults is one that is influential in

society today. Studies have shown that these negative perceptions not only have an impact on the

ability of older adults to thrive in the workplace, but also on their own physical and mental

wellbeing as they age. The purpose of this study was to examine how the perception of

stereotypes of older people influence the behavior of people viewing those stereotypes. I

hypothesized that exposure to stereotypically consistent behavior for older adults would result in
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an increase in the time for a person performing cognitive and motor tasks along with a decrease

in performance on these same tasks consistent with the stereotypes of older persons and that

exposure to stereotypically inconsistent behavior would not influence the performance of

participants.

Method

Participants and Design

Participants were 48 college students (24 men and 24 women). Participants were assigned

randomly to read a scenario pertaining to either older or younger people. Within those groups,

participants were assigned randomly to read scenarios containing stereotypically age-consistent

situations or stereotypically age-inconsistent situations. These manipulations resulted in a 2 x 2

(Target Age: Older vs. Younger x Consistency of Behavior: Consistent vs. Inconsistent) between

- subjects design. All participants provided informed consent before beginning the experiment.

Stimuli

I produced four separate scenarios located on four different sheets of paper for a portion

of this experiment. One scenario consisted of a situation which was stereotypically consistent for

older persons, specifically, driving too slowly on the road because they are lost. A second

scenario consisted of a situation that was stereotypically inconsistent with a young person,

specifically, driving too slowly on the road because they are lost. A third scenario was

stereotypically consistent with a young person, specifically, texting and driving. A fourth

scenario was stereotypically inconsistent with an older person, specifically, texting and driving.

In each of the different scenarios, there were six different examples of primes being used. For

example, “the older person is looking from side to side” and “a young person who is responding
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to some text messages.” Each scenario consisted of approximately 400 words and there were six

primes in each of the scenarios. For copies of the scenarios, see Appendix A.

Dependent Measures

Recall. Participants recalled information from the scenario they read. Participants were

given 60 s to recall as many details from the scenario as possible and write those details on the

sheet of paper provided to them. There were six priming phrases located in each scenario, and

the recall reinforced those primes. For scenarios see Appendix A.

Motor tasks. Participants performed a gross motor task in which they threw a small ball

into a bin located three m away. There were six balls, each ball was thrown into the bin twice for

a total of 12 times. The participants threw the ball into the bin with the intent of getting the ball

to stay in the bin after each throw. Each successful throw was recorded.

Participants performed a fine motor task using the bilateral transfer device in which they

sat in front of a mirror and solved the Porteus maze by looking only at the reflected image in the

mirror and not at the actual image itself. The time on task was recorded as soon as the participant

completed the Porteus maze. For Porteus maze see Appendix B.

Cognitive task. Participants performed a cognitive task. Participants were seated and

completed a word search. The word search contained 15 words to be found. Participants were

given 5 min to complete the word search. A word search was found online and obtained from

http://www.whenwewordsearch.com/word_search/lots_of_words/1396/word_search.jsp. For

word search see Appendix C.

Procedure

One group of participants served under each of the experimental conditions. The

participants were seated at a table where they provided consent and were then be given a copy of
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the written scenario to read (found in Appendix A). The participant was informed to read the

scenario carefully as there was a recall test following the reading. Once finished, I removed the

scenario and the participant wrote down as many details from the scenario as they could

remember. After the recall task has been completed, the participant performed a gross motor task

where they tossed balls into a bin and the accuracy of their tosses was recorded. Once the gross

motor task was complete, the participant performed a fine motor task in which they were seated

in front of a mirror where they traced the reflection of a Porteus maze to the best of their ability.

The time it took for the participant to complete the Porteus maze, as well as the number of errors

made, were recorded. Participants were then asked to take part in a cognitive task where they

completed a word search. I counterbalanced the different tasks across the four conditions to

control for the potential of carry over effects. Once participants completed all tasks, I thanked

them for their participation and they were fully debriefed and excused.

Results

In order to examine whether stereotype consistency influenced the participant

performance, correct words, successful tosses, and maze time were used as dependent measures

in three separate one-way between participant ANOVAs. The means and CIs from this analysis

of correct words is plotted in Figure 1. The means and standard deviations of the ANOVAs are

located in Table 1. The ANOVA produced results which were not significant for any of the

dependent measures correct words (M = 6.21, SD = 3.03), successful tosses (M = 7.35, SD =

2.45), and maze time (M = 2.59, SD = 1.58), F(1,44) = .317, MSE = 9.47, p = .576.

Manipulation Check

Prior to completing the cognitive, fine, and gross motor tasks, participants completed a

recall task. The number of correct details recalled from the scenario and written down on a sheet
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of paper were recorded and analyzed using an independent samples t-test. The t-test done for the

Older Consistent condition revealed a t value of t = 14.34 with a p-value of p < .05. The t-test

done for the Older Inconsistent condition revealed a t value of t = 19.00 with a p-value of p <

.05. The t-test done for the Young Consistent condition revealed a t value of t = 9.71 with a p-

value of p < .05. The t-test done for the Young Inconsistent condition revealed a t value of t =

10.39 with a p-value of p < .05. These results showed significance under each of the four

conditions.

Major Research Questions

In order to understand the influence of stereotypes on the motor task performance of

participants, a maze task was completed (fine motor) and a ball toss task was completed (gross

motor). The results of these motor tasks were recorded and analyzed. F tests were done to

understand the significance of prime, F(1,44) = .841, consistency, F(1,44) = .159, and prime and

consistency, F(1,44) = .179, on maze time. F tests were also done to understand the significance

of prime, F(1,44) = .030, consistency, F(1,44) = .742, and prime and consistency, F(1,44) = .003

on successful ball tosses.

In order to understand the influence of stereotypes on cognitive task performance of

participants, a word search task was completed. The results of the cognitive task were recorded

and analyzed. F tests were done to understand the significance of prime, F(1,44) = .009,

consistency, F(1,44) = .317, and prime and consistency, F(1,44) = 1.267, correct words found in

the word search.

Discussion

The results of this experiment revealed that there was not a decreased ability of participants

to perform on the given tasks after reading a scenario that was intended to influence the
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participants to perform differently. The lack of influence can be seen through the means and

confidence intervals of the correct words results located in Figure 1. The results of this

experiment did not confirm the hypothesis that exposure to stereotypically consistent behavior

for older adults would result in an increase in the time for a person performing cognitive and

motor tasks along with a decrease in performance on these same tasks consistent with the

stereotypes of older persons and that exposure to stereotypically inconsistent behavior would not

influence the performance of participants.

The data did not reflect similar results to other studies of its kind. In a study done by Bargh et

al., (1996), the results showed that people were able to be influenced not only by other people,

but by their environment at all. The researchers found participants who were influenced both

consciously and unconsciously behaved in the manner which they were influenced to perform.

The results of a different study done by Chambon, (2008), also showed that participants’

behavior was able to be influenced through the use of several different materials that were

designed to cause the participants to behave. The similarities in the two studies appear when

looking at the purpose of the researchers. In the study done by Chambon, (2008), the participants

were being influenced with the purpose of understanding how perception of distances and hills

were impacted upon being exposed to an older person stereotype, as those are often things older

people associate as being more complex (Chambon, 2008). In this study, participants completed

tasks also related to age in that as people grow older, the tasks focused on motor skills as well as

cognitive skills, all of which tend to decline as a person grows older (Nelson, 2016). The

materials used in the current study were not successful in influencing participants to behave at a

more successful rate or a less successful rate. The methods of this experiment are similar to those

of Dijksterhuis & Van Knippenberg, (1998) in that participants were under the impression they
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would be taking part in tasks which were unrelated. The results of the study done by Dijksterhuis

and Van Knippenberg, (1998), showed that one stereotype was more successful in the influence

of participant behavior in that the stereotype was able to influence the responses of participants

beliefs about a particular group of individuals in the way that the material was intended to do so.

The results of the current study did not show results similar to the research done by those

researchers.

In terms of what the results of this study mean for people, the data displayed consistency

throughout. Even though the results did not show that people had been influenced by the

scenarios, the data from each of the four scenarios were consistent with the data from each

category. Although the data from this study did not show influence, multiple other studies and

research done by multiple researchers over a period of time showed that different exposure to

stereotypes has been able to influence the behavior and perceptions of people.

During this study, there were multiple challenges. One of the challenges was that participants

did remember the details from the scenarios. The scenario portion of the experiment was very

important and yet it was the part that participants often rushed through, regardless of having the

knowledge of the recall task that would follow immediately after the completion of the reading.

Another challenge was to the methods of the experiment. When participants became aware that a

time was running during portions of the experiment, competitive nature began to take over and

participants would make an attempt to perform at a faster pace. A possible way to improve the

issue associated with the reading would be to stress the importance of the reading prior to

beginning the experiment. A possible way to improve the issue associated with the time, would

be to hide the stop watch in a location less visible to the participants, whether that be a clipboard

or another object held by the experimenter.

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The results with this experiment were not concurrent with the results found by other similar

studies performed in the past. The results of these tests show that the performance of participants

was not influenced by the scenarios used in the study. The inability to influence participant

performance in this study shows potential for further research as to what about stereotypes

causes a change among people. The question of why some studies are able to influence behaviors

and some are not being one that could be researched in the future. Another study which could be

done in the future would be one which questions if certain stereotypes are able to influence

people more than others, and if so, which stereotypes are most successful at influence the

abilities and behaviors of people and how that impacts people in everyday life outside of this

study.
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References

Bargh, J. A., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of

trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology. 71(2), 230-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.230

Chambon, M. (2008). Embodied perception with others’ bodies in mind: Stereotype priming

influence on the perceptions of spatial environment. Journal of Experimental Social

Psychology, 45, 283-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.023

Dijkesterhuis, A., & Van Knippenberg, A. (1998). The relation between perception and behavior,

or how to win a game of trivial pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

74, 865-877. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.4.865

Ginsberg, F., Rohmer, O., & Louvet, E. (2012). Priming of disability and elderly stereotype

in motor performance: Similar or specific effects? Perceptual and Motor

Skills,114(2), 397-406. http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/07.PMS.114.2.397-406

Miller, S. S., Gordon, A. R., Olsson, M. J., Lundunstrom, J. N., & Dalton, P. (2013). Mind

over age - stereotype activation and olfactory function. Journal of Chemical

Sciences,38, 167-174. http://dx.doi:doi:org/10.1093/chemse/bjs086

Nelson, T. D. (2016). Promoting healthy aging by confronting ageism. American

Psychologist,71(4), 276-282. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040221

Robertson, D. A., & Weiss, D. (2017). In the eye of the beholder: Can counter-stereotypes

change perceptions of older adults’ social status? Psychology and Aging,32(6), 531-

542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pag0000186

Tuckman, J., & Lorge, I. (1952). The influence of a course on the psychology of the adult on

attitudes toward old people and older workers. Journal of Educational

THE EFFECT OF STEREOTYPE PERCEPTION 14

Psychology,43(7), 400-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0062469

 THE EFFECT OF STEREOTYPE PERCEPTION 15

Table 1.

Means and SDs for the Recorded Values of Successful Tosses, Maze time, and

Correct Words.

Consistency

Older Con. Older Incon. Young Con. Young Incon.

Successful Tosses 7.08 7.75 7.00 7.58

(2.64) (2.60) (2.49) (2.31)

Maze Time 2.38 2.37 2.61 2.99

(1.59) (1.37) (1.60) (1.86)

Correct Words 6.50 6.00 5.42 6.92

(3.32) (3.36) (2.28) (3.23)

Note. Higher numbers indicate a higher score or longer time recorded by participants according to dependent

measure. The scores were recorded as number values for Successful Tosses and Correct Words. The

score was recorded in minutes and seconds for Maze Time.