The cognitive approach to stereotypes views stereotyping as a natural consequence of normal cognitive processes; therefore, information that is inconsistent with a stereotype is less likely to be remembered. To investigate this hypothesis an earlier experiment was replicated in three studies. Subjects received congruent or neutral information about a target person with one exception which was either congruent or incongruent with the impression and was attributed to either a situational or dispositional cause. Results demonstrated that incongruent behavior had an advantage in recall only when behavior was attributed to dispositional causes. When behavior was attributed to situational causes, incongruent information was no more likely to be recalled than congruent information. In addition, subjects preferred situational attributions for incongruent behavior and dispositional attributions for congruent behavior. The findings suggest that when confronted with behavior that does not fit their stereotypes, individuals may search for a situational attribution, thereby decreasing the likelihood of recall. (JAC)