Content area
Abstract
People often use their evaluative "gut reactions" as a basis for impression formation. The current studies sought to explore how these evaluative "gut reactions"—or spontaneous evaluative inferences ( SEIs)—are formed and retrieved. The first two studies supported the existence of spontaneous evaluative inferences, as well as the efficacy of a modified savings in relearning paradigm in the assessment of such inferences. The third study, through the assessment of attention duration, provided us with information regarding the processes underlying the formation and retrieval of SEIs. In the final study, we utilized an alternative implicit methodology to successfully assess the formation of negative SEIs. In addition, our analyses revealed potential boundary conditions in the formation and retrieval of SEIs.
