But schemas are also a source of errors, in particular false recalls of usual events and omission of unusual ones. Cognitive Structure and Informant Accuracy. Shweder, R.A. and R.G. D'Andrade. The Systematic Distortion Hypothesis. New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Sciences .
Schemas also facilitate and hinder learning.
In the past women were seen as too flighty and flaky to be entrusted with voting, so they were not allowed to vote. Blacks are often seen as dumb, violent and lazy. Men are often seen as aggressive, competitive and sexual predators. The consequences of these stereotypes, besides the obvious, is that stories about individuals are often judged as true simply because they fit preconceptions about the class. For example, it is easy for people to believe that a crime was caused by a black man.