Existing theories of social judgement involve information integration processes or the use of general, schematic knowledge. As an alternative, this proposal outlines a new exemplar-based model of social judgement that emphasizes the important role of the perceiver's specific past experiences. The model rests on three postulates: (1) Exemplar representations are stored in memory as they are interpreted by the perceiver and are retrieved to make social judgements, in a type of implicit memory. (2) A target stimulus serves as a cue for the retrieval of the most similar exemplars from memory. Similarity is not a fixed property of a set of stimuli, but depends on how perceivers process them, and specifically on how much attention perceivers accord to the various stimulus dimensions (Medin & Schaffer 1978). (3) A range of intrinsically social and motivational factors, including perceiver individual differences, past experiences, self-schemas, the social context, and ingroup-outgroup dynamics, have their effects on social judgement by affecting perceivers' attention to dimensions. These three postulates constitute a framework that theoretically unifies and integrates a range of known social influences on judgement by showing that they all operate through a common exemplar-based judgement mechanism. The framework also suggests testable new predictions. Eleven experiments as well as computer stimulations are proposed to further develop and test this theory. The long-term objective of this research is to increase our understanding of the social and cognitive processes involved in social judgement-- particularly effects of the perceiver's past experience and social knowledge (including stereotypes of social groups) on perceptions of and reactions to target persons and groups. Stereotypes and person perception processes are crucially important in many areas including psychiatric diagnosis, close personal relationships, and intergroup relations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH046840-03
Application #
3386671
Study Section
Mental Health Behavioral Sciences Research Review Committee (BSR)
Project Start
1991-09-01
Project End
1994-08-31
Budget Start
1993-09-01
Budget End
1994-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1993
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Purdue University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
072051394
City
West Lafayette
State
IN
Country
United States
Zip Code
47907
DeCoster, Jamie; Claypool, Heather M (2004) A meta-analysis of priming effects on impression formation supporting a general model of informational biases. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 8:2-27
Queller, Sarah; Smith, Eliot R (2002) Subtyping versus bookkeeping in stereotype learning and change: connectionist simulations and empirical findings. J Pers Soc Psychol 82:300-13
Mackie, D M; Devos, T; Smith, E R (2000) Intergroup emotions: explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. J Pers Soc Psychol 79:602-16
Smith, E R; Murphy, J; Coats, S (1999) Attachment to groups: theory and measurement. J Pers Soc Psychol 77:94-110
Semin, G R; Smith, E R (1999) Revisiting the past and back to the future: memory systems and the linguistic representation of social events. J Pers Soc Psychol 76:877-92
Mackie, D M; Smith, E R (1998) Intergroup relations: insights from a theoretically integrative approach. Psychol Rev 105:499-529
Stewart, T L; Doan, K A; Gingrich, B E et al. (1998) The actor as context for social judgments: effects of prior impressions and stereotypes. J Pers Soc Psychol 75:1132-54
Smith, E R; DeCoster, J (1998) Knowledge acquisition, accessibility, and use in person perception and stereotyping: simulation with a recurrent connectionist network. J Pers Soc Psychol 74:21-35
Smith, E R (1996) What do connectionism and social psychology offer each other? J Pers Soc Psychol 70:893-912
Smith, E R; Fazio, R H; Cejka, M A (1996) Accessible attitudes influence categorization of multiply categorizable objects. J Pers Soc Psychol 71:888-98

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