The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
The experiment employed a modification of Craik & Tulving's (1975) incidental learning procedure to test recruitment of familiar-other exemplars as reference points in thinking about acquaintances. After performing an initial trait-rating task, subjects were unexpectedly asked to identify which targets were paired with each of the trait-adjectives used in that task. We assumed that if, in making judgments regarding Person X (target), the subject spontaneously activates a representation of Person Y (social reference point) then the subject may later incorrectly identify Person Y as the original target. Obtained pattern of target identification errors was consistent with the notion of a privileged status of familiar others as points of reference in thinking about less familiar persons.