Reconstructing the past: Some cognitive consequences of person perception.

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate systematic retrospective distortions of past events precipitated by one's current beliefs about another individual. Participants read an extensive narrative about the life of a woman named Betty K. Either immediately after reading the case history or 1 week later, some participants learned that she was currently living a lesbian life-style; others learned that she was currently living a heterosexual life-style; still others learned nothing about her life-style. The impact of this new information on recognition memory for factual events in Betty K.'s life was assessed 1 week after reading the case history. Participants selectively affirmed events that supported and bolstered their current interpretations of Betty K. Performance was the same whether participants learned this information immediately after reading the case history or 1 week later. Additional evidence suggests that these results are best characterized as the product of an interaction between stereotyped beliefs about sexuality and genuine memory for factual events. Implications of these findings for the nature, function, and consequences of social knowledge are discussed.

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