Some contrast effects in social perception.

The classical psychophysical experiment requiring S to make judgments comparing 2 stimuli re some dimension stands as the model for this research, only the traditional inanimate stimulus has been replaced by people. "The major hypothesis of this paper is that an anchorage or standard is formed on the basis of the experience with the first person and that subsequently contrast occurs in the perception of the second stranger when there is a great perceived difference between the two." Ss listened to recordings of a psychologist and a student who was asked to talk about himself, and then rated the students and the psychologist on 2 questionnaires. The results confirmed those derived from traditional psychophysical experimentse indicating the relevance of laboratory findings to everyday life. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GE50H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)