Self-perpetuating development of encoding biases in person perception.

Abstract

It was hypothesized that encoding (interpretive) biases may develop in a self-perpetuating manner through biased, self-supportive encoding (even in the absence of any objectively supportive evidence). This process was investigated in 3 experiments with different stimulus materials (matrices of digits, silhouettes of persons, descriptions of personal problems). In the learning phase of each study, Ss nonconsciously acquired some encoding bias. In the testing phase, Ss' encoding of new material was predictably biased, and, consistent with the self-perpetuation hypothesis, the strength of the bias gradually increased over the segments of the material, even though the material did not contain any evidence supportive of the bias. Given the ambiguity of many (particularly social) stimuli, the self-perpetuation process may play a ubiquitous role in the development of interpretive categories and other individually differentiated cognitive dispositions.

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