Tl. Budesheim et K. Bonnelle, THE USE OF ABSTRACT TRAIT KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIORAL EXEMPLARS IN CAUSAL EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOR, Personality & social psychology bulletin, 24(6), 1998, pp. 575-587
Both classic and contemporary models of causal reasoning suggest that
we retrieve examples of an actor's past behavior from memory when expl
aining his or her current behavior A variety of other research suggest
s that we rely on abstract trait knowledge rather than on behavioral e
xemplars when making such judgments. The authors conducted three exper
iments that examined which type of information (abstract trait knowled
ge or behavioral exemplars) was spontaneously used during causal reaso
ning when both types of information were available. Results indicated
that although abstract trait knowledge generally served as the basis f
or causal judgment behavioral exemplars were used if they were easily
accessible and participants were motivated to engage in effortful proc
essing. The authors discuss how the use of abstract traits versus beha
vioral exemplars may serve to maintain or alter existing person impres
sions.