Activation of Behavioral Trait Inferences: Impression Formation in the Reading Process
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
27-4-2009 1:00 PM
End Date
27-4-2009 3:00 PM
Student's Major
Psychology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Karla Lassonde
Mentor's Department
Psychology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
When reading text, it is likely that readers make inferences about characters. If a passage is read about Tom who has a lot of friends, it is likely that one would describe Tom as friendly. Describing Tom as friendly would be a behavioral trait inference because it was not explicitly mentioned that Tom was friendly. We were interested in examining conditions in which these inferences are activated while reading. We developed a set of twenty-four passages. Each passage contained a main character that was described in three different conditions: consistent, inconsistent, and neutral. Each of these passages described a specific behavioral trait. Thirty participants enrolled in introductory psychology courses at Minnesota State University, Mankato, read these passages in the three conditions. After each passage, they were asked to write down three words describing the main character. The most frequently reported words were selected as behavioral trait targets for the next part of the study. In this experiment, forty participants read twenty-four passages on a computer screen. Following the last line of each passage, a target word was presented. Participants were asked to name the target word aloud as quickly as possible. The passages were either consistent or neutral with these target traits. Participants' naming time was facilitated for target traits that followed consistent passages but not for target traits that followed neutral passages. This is evidence that behavioral trait inferences were made. These results will be used to further investigate the effects of trait inferences on reading and memory.
Activation of Behavioral Trait Inferences: Impression Formation in the Reading Process
CSU Ballroom
When reading text, it is likely that readers make inferences about characters. If a passage is read about Tom who has a lot of friends, it is likely that one would describe Tom as friendly. Describing Tom as friendly would be a behavioral trait inference because it was not explicitly mentioned that Tom was friendly. We were interested in examining conditions in which these inferences are activated while reading. We developed a set of twenty-four passages. Each passage contained a main character that was described in three different conditions: consistent, inconsistent, and neutral. Each of these passages described a specific behavioral trait. Thirty participants enrolled in introductory psychology courses at Minnesota State University, Mankato, read these passages in the three conditions. After each passage, they were asked to write down three words describing the main character. The most frequently reported words were selected as behavioral trait targets for the next part of the study. In this experiment, forty participants read twenty-four passages on a computer screen. Following the last line of each passage, a target word was presented. Participants were asked to name the target word aloud as quickly as possible. The passages were either consistent or neutral with these target traits. Participants' naming time was facilitated for target traits that followed consistent passages but not for target traits that followed neutral passages. This is evidence that behavioral trait inferences were made. These results will be used to further investigate the effects of trait inferences on reading and memory.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Samuel. "Activation of Behavioral Trait Inferences: Impression Formation in the Reading Process." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 27, 2009.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2009/poster-session-B/15
