| Two studies were conducted to investigate the cognitive processes underlying trait judgments about the self. Three alternative processes were considered. One, self-perception processes in which judgments are based on whatever relevant information is available in working memory, without consideration of the implications of any previous trait judgements. Second, schema processes in which judgments are based solely on previous trait judgments if the traits are important to the self-concept, otherwise they are based on any relevant information in working memory. Third, integration processes in which judgments are based on the combined implications of both the previous trait judgments and any relevant information available in working memory at the time of the judgment. The type of information available in working memory at the time of the judgments was manipulated in two different ways. Subjects in Experiment 1 were explicitly asked to retrieve positive or negative behavioral information about various traits. Subjects in Experiment 2 were presented with positive or negative statements about themselves in a false-feedback paradigm. The results from both experiments indicate that an integration process underlies self-judgments for both important and unimportant traits. Furthermore, evidence was obtained to suggest that the process by which self-judgments are made is independent of how self-knowledge is organized. |
