Suchergebnisse

Based on a framework suggested by information integration theory, this study examined how prejudice affects the use of stereotypes when forming social judgments. Participants reviewed applications for a minority scholarship and rated their liking for each applicant. Embedded in the
applications were trait descriptions that varied in the amount, stereotypicality, and valence of the information provided. Evaluations by high-prejudice participants were more negative than those of low-prejudice participants only when the applicant was described by a single negative stereotype;
when descriptions contained more information that was negative and stereotypic racism was not a factor. In addition, responses of both groups became more extreme when more traits were provided, especially when traits were positive. Taken together, the results suggest similarly negative predispositions
toward minorities, with those of more prejudiced individuals requiring less negative stereotypical information to be activated. Future applications of methodology suggested by information integration theory in the study of racism are discussed.

Breeding colonies of sooty shearwaters ('muttonbird', tïtï, Puffinus griseus) on mainland New Zealand have declined in recent years. New data on burrow occupancy and colony productivity for seven sooty shearwater breeding colonies on the coast of Otago, New Zealand for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 breeding seasons are presented and analysed as part of a five-year data set. Detection of a burrow's occupants using a fibre-optic burrowscope may underestimate absolute occupancy rates, but is still of value in the analysis of trends. Detection probabilities estimated by the novel use of mark–recapture models corresponded with those of previous studies of the technique's accuracy. Mainland declines are associated with a lack of control of introduced mammalian predators at most mainland colonies superimposed on a global pattern of decline in the species' abundance. Large numbers of recovered carcasses and an absence of burrow activity at two small mainland colonies show the decline to extinction of these colonies over the five years of collecting data. At one mainland colony with intensive predator control, survival rates and parameter variances are comparable with those found on a predator-free offshore island. All other mainland colonies showed negligible breeding success. There was a significant positive relationship between egg survival and an index of relative adult survival, with an apparent threshold below which few eggs hatch. Adult survival during the breeding season is likely to be the most important parameter in maintaining a colony's viability.