You meet a person described as 'intelligent, warm, and critical.' Later you learn they are also 'cautious.' Which effect best explains why 'cautious' tends to be interpreted positively in this context?
ARecency effect — later information always dominates first impressions
BPrimacy effect — 'intelligent' and 'warm' established a positive frame that colors how 'cautious' is interpreted
CSchema inconsistency effect — unexpected traits are always evaluated positively
DAvailability heuristic — cautious people are easier to recall
This is a classic demonstration of Asch's configural model and the primacy effect: early information (especially 'warm') creates an overall impression that shapes the meaning of subsequent traits. 'Cautious' after 'intelligent, warm' sounds prudent; after 'cold, calculating' it sounds paranoid. First impressions set the interpretive frame through which later information is filtered.
Question 2 True / False
According to social cognition research, the use of schemas to categorize people is primarily a sign of cognitive laziness or low intelligence.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Schemas are cognitive necessities, not pathologies. The social environment is too complex to process every person from scratch — schemas allow fast, efficient categorization that is usually functional. The problem arises when schemas are applied rigidly, updated slowly, or used to discount individuating information in high-stakes situations. Schema use is universal; flexibility and awareness vary.
Question 3 Short Answer
What do priming studies reveal about the nature of social judgment — specifically, when and how social categories influence the way we perceive others?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Priming studies show that recently or frequently activated concepts influence subsequent social judgments automatically and outside awareness, even when participants have no intention of applying the primed concept.
In priming paradigms, participants exposed to words or images associated with a social category subsequently show behavior or judgments consistent with that category without being aware of the influence. This demonstrates that social cognition is largely automatic rather than deliberate — biases can operate even when people believe they are being objective.