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Expectancies and the Coding of Information:
We see what we expect to see
• Darley & Gross (1983) - Remember the
hypothesis testing stuff we covered in the last
chapter; it affects memory too
• We pay more attention to stimuli that matches our
expectancies especially if we are stressed or
aroused
– Cohen (1981) waitress/librarian study
• What we expected gets more easily connected to
our other beliefs
– Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen - doctor, artist,
skinhead, real estate agent
Darley & Gross (1983)
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Performance not viewed
Performance viewed
High Expectations Low Expectations
Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen (1994)
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Stereotype Consistent Traits
Non-Stereotypic Traits
Given Stereotype Not Given Stereotype
The Power of Inconsistent Information:
We often see what we don’t expect to see
• Hastie & Kumar (1979) - we often remember
information that violates our expectancies even
better than information that is consistent with our
expectancies
• When do we recall expectancy congruent
information and when do we recall expectancy
incongruent information
– We recall expectancy incongruent information
better when we are motivated to try figure out what
is going on
– When people are less motivated or distracted by
other tasks they pay more attention to stereotype
congruent information
Hastie & Kumar (1979) - Memory for
Inconsistent Information
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Neutral Behaviors
Congruent Behaviors
Incongruent Behaviors
Goals and the Encoding of Information
• The goal of forming an accurate impression of an
individual greatly enhances the amount of
information we encode about a person
– Devine, Sedikides, & Furhman, (1989)
• Flashbulb Memories - Space Shuttle Challenger
Explosion (for old folks like me); maybe
Trudeau’s death - Thought of initially as frozen
into memory
• Now it is clear that flashbulb memories can be
wrong
– Neisser & Hatch (1992)
• They may gain their strength from being
rehearsed and may have more emotional
Devine, Sedikides, & Furhman (1989) Impression Formation Goals and Encoding
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Target Other
Average Other
Anticipated Interaction
Form Impression
Memorize the Information
Expectancies and Retrieval of Information
• We often remember what we expect to remember
• The Hindsight Bias - We remember that we were
always right
– Fischoff (1975) - Who did you think would win war
between the Gurkas and the British in India
• Reasons for Hindsight Bias – Preceding events take on new meaning in light of
outcome
– We reinterpret relevant information
– We have little or no access to our prior
understanding
Fischhoff (1975) - The Hindsight Bias
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Told British Won
Told Gurkas Won
Expected British Victory Expected Gurka Victory
Mood and Memory I:
Mood Congruent Memory
• Mood Congruent Memory - we remember things
that are associated with the mood we are in
– Prototypical Study
• There is general evidence for this type of an
effect
• The effect is better for positive mood than
negative mood
• People in a negative mood often try to regulate
their moods by not thinking about negative things
which can prevent mood congruent memories.
Mood and Memory II:
Mood Congruent Memory
• Mood Dependent Memory - Memory for both
positive and negative things that were learned in
a similar mood
• Little evidence for this - it seems to only occur
when we have intense emotions and recalled
events are internal and we are not reminded of
this events at the time of recollection
• Eich experiments that produce the effect
Distinguishing Reality from Imagination:
Memory Reconstruction - What’s the Source
• When we imagine something how do we later
know that it was imagined and not real?
• Suggestion and false memories – Loftus & Palmer (1974)
– Loftus & Coan (1994)
• The Recovered Memories controversy
– Recovered memories of child abuse
– Can false memories be “recovered”?
– Can real memories be recovered?
• Children’s Eyewitness Memory
Loftus & Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Loftus & Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
Remembering Where
Information Came From I
• Getting confused about the source of information
– Taylor et al., (1978) - Who made what statement?
We confuse statements made by people of the
same race more than statements made by people
of different races.
– Stangor et al., (1992) - We don’t confuse
statements made by people with the same shirt
color and prejudiced people are especially likely to
confuse statements made by people of different
races.
Remembering Where
Information Came From II
• The sleeper effect - Information presented from a
unreliable source is initially unpersuasive but
becomes persuasive over time
– Initial studies and difficulty in replication
– Importance of forgetting the source