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Full Idea
We needn't say that learning a stereotype is just a by-product of acquiring the concept; it could rather be a stage in concept acquisition.
Gist of Idea
Maybe stereotypes are a stage in concept acquisition (rather than a by-product)
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (LOT 2 [2008], Ch.5.4)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'LOT 2: the Language of Thought Revisited' [OUP 2008], p.150
A Reaction
He rejects stereotypes because they don't give concepts the necessary compositionality in thought. But this idea would mean that children were incapable of compositionality until they had transcended the primitive stereotype stage.