Informational basis for children's impressions of others.

Assessed the age at which 22 kindergartners, 22 2nd graders, and 22 5th graders used covariation information to form impressions of others when behavioral frequency was held constant or was varied. In Exp I the frequency of aggressive or helpful behavior was held constant, but behavioral consistency or nondistinctiveness was varied. Ss made single-rating and paired comparison judgments about each actor's future behaviors and personal characteristics. Results reveal that 2nd and 5th graders' comparison judgments were appropriately differentiated according to the available covariation information, whereas kindergartners' judgments were not appropriately differentiated. A 2nd experiment was conducted to determine whether 24 kindergartners' failure to use covariation information was simply the result of task demands. Ss made paired comparison judgments about aggressive behavior. Aggression frequency was either held constant (consistency vs nondistinctiveness) or was varied (relative degrees of consistency or nondistinctiveness). Results show that Ss' impressions of others did not vary according to differences in covariation information, at least when frequency was held constant. Findings undermine a task-demand interpretation of the results of Exp I and indicate that young children do use frequency information. There was no evidence that Ss used covariation information independently of differences in frequency. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)