Abstract
This study examined how perceptual bias such as assimilation and contrast effects contributed to stereotype formation. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with the scores performed by members of a group. The distribution of the performance scores (low variability or high variability) and the group size (small or large) were manipulated. Then the perception of group variability was measured. In the low variability condition, the large group was perceived to be more homogeneous than the small group. In Experiment 2, participants were instructed (1) to recall each group member's performance score (memory condition), (2) to estimate the group mean of the performance scores (estimation condition), or (3) to answer some questions (control condition), and presented with the scores performed by members of a group. In the estimation condition, the same pattern of the results as Experiment 1 was found. These results were interpreted in terms of assimilation of successively encountered group members to the central tendency which was formed in the large group condition.
