Research in Nursing zyxwvutsrqpo & Health, zyxwvutsrq 1992, 15, 139 - 146 zyxwvutsr The Effect of Clients’ Family Structure on Nursing Students’ Cognitive Schemas and Verbal Behavior Lawrence H. Ganong and Marilyn Coleman The primary purpose of this study was to investigate if nursing students stereotype clients on the basis of family status. In addition, the influence of information about the client’s family status on students’ predictions about the client’s behavior, information sought from the client, recalled information, and verbal responses directed toward the client were examined. The participants were 83 nursing students from a large Midwestern university. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Brief written information about a female adult client with a vaginal discharge was provided and, after listening to an audiotaped interview between a nurse and the client, students completed a battery of questionnaires. They also responded verbally to questions asked by the audiotaped client. All information given to both groups was identical except for the client’s family status. Results indicated that the client who was a married mother was perceived somewhat more positively than the unmarried mother client. Participants’ perceptions were only somewhat consistent with cultural stereotypes about these family statuses. Information sought and information re- membered about the client were greater when she was an unmarried mother. There were no differences in predictions of patients’ behaviors and verbal responses. zyxw People are exposed to a tremendous amount of information every day. Fortunately, the human brain processes information in a manner that per- mits a manageable interpretation of a complex environment by clustering associated facts and thoughts together into cognitive categories or schemas (Ashmore & Del Boca, 1981). These schemas direct attention, encode information, and retrieve information from memory. If one feature of a schema is recalled, then other parts of the schema also are activated into memory. A stereotype is a special kind of schema (Fiske & Taylor, 1984), in which the central concept is a group of people who share a common charac- teristic (Blalock & DeVellis, 1986). A stereotype is a set of beliefs about the personal attributes of a group of people (Ashmore & Del Boca, 1981). When stereotyping, a person: (a) categorizes other individuals; (b) attributes a set of characteristics to all members of that category; and (c) attributes those characteristics to any member of that category (Blalock & DeVellis, 1986). A stereotype exists when there is an identified category of people about whom there are generalized, widely-held beliefs. Stereotyping is a normative cognitive process that is engaged in by everyone (McCauley, Stitt, & Segal, 1980). The process of stereotyping can be useful in organizing information about groups of people. Stereotypes provide a set of hypotheses about a target group’s behaviors, attitudes, and traits. The problem associated with stereotyping is that a stereotype may be oversimplified, over- generalized, and uncritically accepted (Snyder, 1981). A rigidly held stereotype that contains in- correct attributions or one that consists entirely of negative characteristics may cause problems for both the holder of the stereotype and members of the social group being stereotyped (DeVellis, Wallston, & Wallston, 1980). For example, only data that “fit” the stereotype may be perceived; data that do not fit may be either ignored or distorted Lawrence H. Ganong, PhD, is a professor in the School of Nursing, University of Missouri-Columbia. Marilyn Coleman, EdD, is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia. This article was received on March 18, 1991, was revised, and accepted for publication September 19, 1991. Requests for reprints can be addressed to Dr. Ganong, S313 School of Nursing, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 6521 1. zyxwvu 0 I992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 0160-6891/92/020139-08 $04.00