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A Partisan Schema for Political Information Processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Milton Lodge and
Ruth Hamill
Milton Lodge
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Ruth Hamill
Affiliation:
Frank N. Magid Associates, Marion, Iowa
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Abstract

Based on their interest in politics and knowledge of political leaders, individuals are classified into three levels of partisan sophistication: (1) those scoring high in interest and knowledge (partisan schematics), (2) a middle group, and (3) those scoring low (partisan aschematics). In this experimental study, and consistent with findings from cognitive and social psychology, partisan schematics prove better able than partisan aschematics to classify campaign statements as either Republican or Democratic and to recall the policy stands taken by a fictitious congressman. Aschematics, at the other extreme, perform at no better than chance levels in either the recognition or recall of the congressman's policy statements. There are, however, liabilities to sophistication as well: Schematics demonstrate a “consistency bias” in recalling significantly more policy statements that are consistent with the congressman's party identification than are inconsistent with it. This “restructuring” of memory is especially pronounced among sophisticates, and reflects a serious bias in the processing of political information.

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American Political Science Review , Volume 80 , Issue 2 , June 1986, pp. 505 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1986

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