a whole, is that members of an in-group will know their peers more than those of the out-group, especially in terms of personality. Thus, such studies do not contribute wholly to the cognitive explanation of stereotyping. However, the homogeneity effect has undergone investigation by many studies, and conflicting evidence has arisen. Nevertheless, a point that has been overlooked is that, with members of an in-group recognising variability within their group, surely such variability is seen by members of an out-group, within their group. This displays a cognitive error of ignorance. Even so, there is no empirical evidence to support such a claim.Categorisation, according to the above, is a 'natural' cognitive process, that 'naturally' leads to stereotyping. As Howitt, et al. (1989) state: 'cognitive dynamics [of stereotyping] are a natural part of thinking because we must categorise the social world, and in doing so, inevitably build up stereotypical assumptions, protected by our cognitive biases'.The cognitive approach of categorisation does have its flaws however. Categorisation theorists give a rather mechanistic impression of cognition, and thus, their approach to stereotyping (Billig, 1985).We do have a choice in our assumptions and there is a flexibility about human thinking (Howitt, et al., 1989). Therefore, cognition is not as rigid as categorisation implies. It is an oversimplification in itself to suggest that language oversimplifies the world, because it is due to language that our views of the social world can be expressed. However, language does not have to be present for stereotyping to be present. For example, the Minimal Group Paradigm. Even so, language aids our categorisation and thus, our stereotyping. It is the same language that we may use to stereotype that enables us to be the reverse. For example, in the interviews mentioned above, the interviewers could be taught to ask non-categorical questions. As concepts in...
