In studies of priming (i.e., the influence of the presentation of an """"""""irrelevant"""""""" stimulus on judgments of a target stimulus) assimilation effects are typical wherein the judgment is influenced in the direction of the prime. There are striking exceptions where the judgments are contrasted from the prime. These effects have been well documented in conscious, deliberate judgments, but there is now evidence for contrast priming in unconscious, automatic responses. Such effects suggest that people unconsciously perceive and automatically compensate for the effects of biasing information. The proposed program of research will explore likely moderators of the effect (e.g., prime extremity, time course of stimulus presentation), and test a model positing that attempts to compensate for biased response tendencies lead to a series of reverberating overcompensations that can, in turn, yield contrast effects in judgments. The generality of the effects will also be explored by manipulating the type of task and dimension of judgment. Finally, the underlying basis and function of the phenomenon will be investigated, testing the role of people's motivation to respond accurately. This latter phase of the research promises to address the disputed existence of unconscious motivation, thereby making a theoretical contribution to psychology's understanding of the unconscious.
| Jost, John T; Glaser, Jack; Kruglanski, Arie W et al. (2003) Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychol Bull 129:339-75 |
| Glaser, J; Banaji, M R (1999) When fair is foul and foul is fair: reverse priming in automatic evaluation. J Pers Soc Psychol 77:669-87 |
