The transparency of denial: Briefing in the debriefing paradigm.

Abstract

This research tested a new conceptualization of the impression perseverance effect. Here, as in earlier studies, some actor and observer subjects were given false feedback about the actor-subjects' performance in the experiment and then were informed during debriefing that the feedback had not been genuine. Other subjects, however, received a briefing about the falsity of the feedback before the task performance. These briefed subjects, like the debriefed subjects, subsequently made estimates of the actors' actual performance on the task that were significantly influenced in the direction of the false feedback. The briefed subjects did not, however, follow the debriefed subjects in making ability attributions to the actor in line with their performance estimates. These results cast doubt on the notion that attributional processing of the false information, as observed in the debriefing condition, is a necessary component of the perseverance effect. The idea that denied information and the denial may contribute independently to subsequent impressions is offered as an alternative explanation of briefing and debriefing phenomena.deny it!" said the March Hare. discredits the evidence on which the impres-"He ~enies it," sai? t,he King: "L~ve out that part." sions are based. The model asserts that this (LewIS Carroll, Ailee s Adventures In Wonderland) ~ .

Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Social Behavior

“…A great number of studies demonstrates that negations slow down cognition (Wason, 1959) and are prone to error (Fiedler, Armbruster, Nickel, Walther, & Asbeck, 1996;Ross, Lepper, & Hubbard, 1975;Wegner, Coulton, & Wenzlaff, 1985). Gilbert's (1991) sequential model of negating describes how negations may be represented in memory.…”

The epistemic impact of the etiology of experience

“…With the distinction in hand between a--rational and rationally assessable etiologies for belief, we can define an analogous distinction for experiences as follows: 35 Mandelbaum, "Thinking is Believing" (in preparation) argues that a wide range of beliefs are formed and maintained a--rationally, drawing on belief perseverance studies (Wegner et al 1985) as well as the Anchoring heuristic discussed by Tversky and Kahneman. Subjects who are asked to give numerical estimates (about how old Gandhi was when he died, for example) incorporate numerical information that they know to be irrelevant (such as their social security number) when the irrelevant information is salient.…”

The negation bias: When negations signal stereotypic expectancies.

“…After all, why should one deny something unless this was in fact a possibility? The denial of criminality then (e.g., P is not a criminal) may itself prove incriminating (Wegner, et al, 1981;Wegner, Coulton & Wenzlaff, 1985; for related evidence see Christie et al 2001;Gilbert, Tafarodi & Malone, 1993;Gilbert, Krull & Malone, 1990;Grant, Malaviya, Sternthal, 2004;Hasson & Glucksberg, 2006;Kaup, Ludtke & Zwaan, 2006;Paradis &Willners, 2006). These findings demonstrate the consequences of using The negation bias 39 negations, rather than affirmations, in person description, and highlight the importance of the negation bias.…”