Keeping up impressions: Inferential rules for impression change across the Big Five

Not all first impressions have equal longevity. Which kinds of impression have the greatest mobility—downward and upward—over the course of acquaintanceships? In this article, we propose an inferential account of impression maintenance across Big Five trait domains. With data from field and laboratory studies, we provide evidence that positive impressions of agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C), and emotional stability (ES) are especially vulnerable to small amounts of contrary evidence, whereas positive first impressions of extraversion (E) and openness (O) are more resistant to contrary information. Impressions of E and O demonstrated minimal susceptibility to negativity effects in a longitudinal study of college roommate impressions (Study 1), in a study of perceivers’ implicit theories about different trait domains (Study 2), and in an experimental study of manipulated impression change (Study 3).     

Transformation rules in concept learning

Two major classes of models have been proposed to explain concept learning: strength models and distance models (Hayes-Roth & Hayes-Roth, 1977). The present study demonstrates that subjects abstract transformation rules as defined by the Franks and Bransford 11971) distance model. Transformation rules characterize how the patterns of a concept differ from each other. Transformation rules are inconsistent with strength models, which assume that subjects abstract component features and not relational information characterizing the differences among patterns. Whether a strength model or a distance model is more appropriate in other instances of concept learning is probably a function of task demands, stimulus characteristics, and subject characteristics.     

The independence of recall and recognition in motor learning

A basic tenet of both current closed-loop theories of motor learning (Adams, 1971; Schmidt, 1975) is that the generation of response specifications during learning is required for the development of recall memory. Two experiments were performed to test this tenet by attempting to demonstrate the development of recall memory in the absence of response specification production. The task in both experiments required blindfolded subjects to learn to produce a rapid, novel criterion movement on a linear positioning device. Control subjects in both experiments actively produced movements during learning with knowledge of results (KR) while experimental subjects in Experiment 1 experienced only the endpoint locations and in Experiment 2 were passively moved to the endpoint locations. Following initial KR trials, both experimental and control groups attempted to actively produce the criterion movement in the absence of KR. The results of both experiments support closed-loop theory that active practice is required to develop recall memory. There was some suggestion, however, that passive experience with sensory feedback may also aid recall memory development, contrary to the two closed-loop theories.     

Repetition learning in the immediate serial recall of visual and auditory materials

In 5 experiments, a Hebb repetition effect, that is, improved immediate serial recall of an (unannounced) repeating list, was demonstrated in the immediate serial recall of visual materials, even when use of phonological short-term memory was blocked by concurrent articulation. The learning of a repeatedly presented letter list in one modality (auditory or visual) did not transfer to give improved performance on the same list in the other modality. This result was not replicated for word lists, however, for which asymmetric transfer was observed. Inferences are made about the structure of short-term memory and about the nature of the Hebb repetition effect.     

Advantages of recall over anticipation methods in verbal learning

The standard paired-associate anticipation procedure previously has been argued to be inferior to recall (Battig, 1965). Anticipation performance measures provide contaminated and inaccurate estimates of Ss’ current learning level, reflecting the unnecessary confusion produced by requiring S to do too many things at once. The present paper shows these arguments against anticipation procedures to apply equally to other types of verbal-learning tasks. Even stronger advantages of recall over anticipation procedures are demonstrated for serial learning, wherein recall additionally displays a markedly greater sensitivity to the effects of relevant manipulated variables, and does not result in the classical bowed serial-position curve that has proved so difficult to understand under serial anticipation.     

Pause measures during reading and recall in serial list learning

An investigation is reported into pausing and grouping during the serial learning of letter strings, when presented randomly by length and when presented in ascending order. Mean pause times for the reading and recall of longer lists were significantly greater than for lists of shorter span due to extended pausing at specific list positions. In general, reading rhythms were duplicated during recall. Subjects were highly consistent in maintaining their level of pause duration across lists and responded to additions in list length by increasing their number of groups, not by increasing group size. Triadic sequences were the most popular form of spontaneous organization. Pausing measures are discussed as indices of organizational strategies.     

A functional relation between learning and organization in free recall

It is well known that multitrial free recall is accompanied by increased organization of output over learning trials, even when the order of presentation is randomized. We compared the relation between learning and organization in 30 young and 30 older adults as they learned categorized materials to a criterion of 100% recall. The importance of this age manipulation was that it allowed us to examine, using two groups that differ significantly in their learning ability, whether organization and learning follow the same function. As was expected, older adults showed less organization on any given learning trial. However, when equated for degree of learning, the older adults showed approximately the same level of organization as the young. This finding suggests that the organization-learning relation remains invariant in the face of significant differences in participants’ mnemonic abilities.     

Induction of combination rules in two-dimensional function learning

Previous studies have typically found that when people learn to combine two dimensions of a stimulus to select a response, they learn additive combination rules more easily than nonadditive (e.g., multiplicative) ones. The present experiments demonstrate that in some situations people can learn multiplicative rules more easily than other (e.g., additive) rules. Subjects learned to produce specified response durations when presented with stimulus lines varying in length and angle of orientation. When stimuliand correct responses were related by a multiplicative combination of power functions, learning was relatively easy (Experiment 1). In contrast, systematic response biases occurred during the early phases of learning an additive combination of linear functions (Experiment 2) and a more complex (nonadditive and nonmultiplicative) combination of linear functions (Experiment3), suggesting that people have a tendency to induce a multiplicative combination of power functions. However, the initial biases decreased with practice. These results are explained in terms of a revised adaptive regression model of function learning originally proposed by Koh and Meyer (1991). Differences between the present results and previous results in the literature are discussed.     

The effects of learning instructions and cueing on free recall

Eighty unrelated high-imagery words were presented for free recall learning in groups of four words each. Learning instructions were varied, with one group told to relate the words in each input group by means of images, another group told to use verbal (sentence) mediators, and the control group not given specific learning instructions. During recall, list items were presented as retrieval cues in some conditions. In comparison with the control condition, imagery and verbal mediation instructions produced greater recall, more clustering, and a largez number of instances per group recalled. When the retrieval cues were selected such that one cue came from each of the input groups and when the strength of within-group organization was quite high, Ss recalled more words and a larger number of input groups. It was concluded that instructions and cueing conditions influenced different aspects of the free recall process. Instructions influenced the organization of individual words into units, and cueing affected the retrieval of specific units.     

Effects of simultaneous interference upon free recall learning and retention

Learning and retention were examined under varying amounts of intratask interference during learning. All subjects were required to learn the same list of auditorily presented words while concurrently processing a visually presented interfering list. Differential amounts of interference were produced by varying the relatedness of the interfering list to the learning list. The common learning list consisted of four general categories that also contained members of more restricted subcategories. Some subjects were instructed about the existence and names of the subcategories. The results showed that interference lengthened learning but, in some cases, facilitated retention relative to control groups. Restricted category knowledge facilitated learning but had no effect on retention. There were no significant retention differences after I week, but after 5 weeks retention performance was significantly better for groups that learned under related interference conditions. The results were interpreted in terms of more elaborate encoding of the items in the high intratask interference conditions.     

The recall of affirmative and negative sentences in an incidental learning task

This experiment examined the recall of positive and negative information in an incidental learning task. The two main findings were that a significantly greater number of affirmative than negative clues were correctly recalled and that the majority of errors took the form of conversions from negative to affirmative, independently of meaning. The difficulty associated with the negative clues was explained in terms of their inappropriateness in the situation, namely in the absence of any prior expectations.     

Accessibility of the voicing distinction for learning phonological rules

In three experiments a series of nonsense syllables ending in consonants was presented to adult subjects who had to discover or learn a rule classifying the syllables into two groups. The rule was based either on the voicing of the final consonants or on an arbitrary division of them. Subjects performed better with the voicing than with the arbitrary rule only when there was a straightforward relationship between the voicing rule and the plural formation rule in English or, more generally, when voicing assimilation with an added consonant was involved and attention was focused on the sound and articulation of the syllables. We conclude that the voicing distinction is not ordinarily accessible and that individuals easily learn and use phonological rules involving voicing assimilation because of articulatory constraints on the production of consonant clusters.