According to Gordon Allport, stereotypes are ingrained in the human brain as a way to reach quick conclusions. His 1979 text The Nature of Prejudice explains that people fill in the gaps of their knowledge with the clues around them, making a full — but typically inaccurate — picture. High schoolers watch a short video that illustrates Allport's point with an applicable example.

Concepts

prejudice, emotions, stereotypes, racism

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Include in a discussion about prejudice in a psychology or teen issues class
• Encourage learners to conduct further research on Allport's work and to present their findings to the class
• Have groups collaborate to create skits that demonstrate the ways prejudice can lead to the wrong conclusions

Classroom Considerations

• The full analysis is available at the publisher's website
• Check the comment section to be sure comments are appropriate for class

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Illustrative and explanatory
• Addresses the connection between racism and stereotypes

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.9 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.9