Dornbusch found that while the children would have similar descriptions for some attributes each childs impression differed in 57% of other catagories (Wegner & Vallacher). These findings reflect the idea of how a majority of factors converning impression formattion are from our cognivtive mechanisms as opposed to being dervived completly from external cues. It also shows how ones impression will differ from one person to another.
Our cognitive mechanisms play a pivotal in impression fomation. Our own experiences, sterotypes etc will shape the way in which we percieve attributes in others. Studies by McKeachie (1952) and Goldberg, Gottesdiener and Abramson (1975) demonstrated most people would make inferences about other's personality on the basis of some attributes or traditional thoughts (Implicit Psychology, 98). What imperssion would you gain from some punk hugging library wall, smoke in hand and chain hanging precariouly from his inner jock strap? the image of misguided youth and bad mannerisms that has formed in your mind due to the inferences made from your own preconceptions. your own steroptype of the word punk itself went on to color the rest of the decrption as each element continued to build towards the sterotype. The fact that he is also holding a book on theodyme nuclear quantum mechanics may also escape you completly and if you did pay it any attention your epxinantion would be so as not to destry the steroptype.he must be holding it for someone else. Foegt the fact that he is actually a honours studnet doing a study on attitudes towards skater park trash you dont know so why should you care? This fact goes on to highlight how we go about obtain clues and making inferences about them. in impression formation we can be seen as intuative scientists. we seek out information that will support our own hypothesis about the person, when we do we add it to our thesis, any infromation which goes agaiast our own we simply discount, try to invalidate or manipulate it so it fits in.
