Stereotypes are a kind of gossip about the world, a gossip that makes us pre-judge people before we ever lay eyes on them. ＿＿（36）＿＿ , it is not surprising that stereotypes have something to do with the dark world of prejudice. Explore most prejudices and you will find a cruel stereotype at the core of each one. Why is it that we stereotype the world in such irrational and harmful ＿＿（37）＿＿ ? In part, we begin to ＿＿（38）＿＿ people in our childhood years. Early in life, as every parent whose child has watched TV knows, we learn to spot the Good Guys ＿＿（39）＿＿ the Bad Guys. Some years ago, a social psychologist showed very clearly how powerful these stereotypes of childhood vision are. He secretly asked the most popular kids in an elementary school to make errors in the morning gym exercises. ＿＿（40）＿＿ , he asked the class if anyone had noticed any mistakes during gym period. Oh, yes, said the children. But it was the unpopular students in class—the "bad guys"—they remembered as being out of step.