Sb. Klein et al., THE FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE OF TRAIT AND BEHAVIORAL SELF-KNOWLEDGE - METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND NEW EMPIRICAL-FINDINGS, Social cognition, 15(3), 1997, pp. 183-203
In a series of studies, Klein and Loftus and their colleagues found th
at people who made self-descriptiveness judgments about trait words we
re no faster than people who performed a control task to subsequently
retrieve behavioral memories about the same traits (e.g., Klein, Loftu
s, & Burton, 1989; Klein & Loftus, 1990, 1993a, 1993c). Based, in part
, on these findings, Klein and Loftus (1993a; Klein, Loftus, & Kihlstr
om, 1996)proposed that functionally independent memory systems underli
e trait self-descriptiveness judgments and behavioral retrieval. The p
resent studies had two purposes. First, we evaluate recent concerns ab
out whether the control task used by Klein and Loftus provides the pro
per baseline against which to assess the absence of priming between tr
ait judgments and behavioral retrieval (e.g., Brown, 1993; Keenan, 199
3). Second, we present converging evidence from a powerful new techniq
ue, Dunn and Kirsner's (1988) method of reversed association, in suppo
rt of Klein and Loftus's proposal that trait judgments and behavioral
retrieval are mediated by functionally independent memory systems.