An on-line look at automatic contrast and correction of behavior categorizations and dispositional inferences.
The current study examined on-line behavior recategorization as a mechanism underlying corrections for contextual influences in dispositional inferences. After watching an initial comparison video that portrayed either a successful or unsuccessful performance on a spatial ability task, cognitive load and no load participants watched and made real-time ratings of a target performance. The comparison video was expected to exert a contrastive influence on participants' automatic impressions of the performance (behavior categorizations) and the child's intelligence (dispositional inferences). Load participants' on-line and post-video performance and ability ratings showed this expected effect, as did no load participants' initial on-line performance ratings. However, no load participants' later on-line and post-video ratings did not. These findings support the notion that corrections for contextual influence can occur at the level of behavior identification as perceivers encode behavioral cues.
Tobin
Stephanie J
SJ
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. tobin.31@osu.edu
Weary
Gifford
G
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D009862:Online Systems; D012938:Social Perception