The current study examined false memory for gender stereotype information using a novel picture paradigm based on the original word paradigm used by Deese (1959) and Roediger and McDermott (1995). We showed participants pictures of either a man or woman portraying stereotypically male-related and female-related household chores. We found a reliable false memory effect for pictures stereotypically related, but not presented in the study list. In addition, a greater proportion of errors occurred with pictures that were consistent with the female stereotype (M = .177) as compared to the male stereotype (M = .081), t(59) = 3.069, p = .003. The latter effect occurred independent of the sex of the participant and the sex of the individual pictured. We discuss the significance of these findings in terms of understanding the nature of memory errors and gender stereotypes.

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