The effect of observational goals on observation of ongoing behavior of others

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of observational goals (i.e., impression formation and memory) on the process of observing ongoing behavior of others. Specifically, the amount of behavior extraction was studied. Forty-nine subjects were randomly assigned to impression and memory groups, and asked to watch a ten-minute video clip featuring a male actor in daily activities. The subjects in the impression group were instructed to press a button when they saw an impression-relevant action and to release it when it was over. Similarly, the subjects in the memory group were instructed to press the button when a memory-relevant action appeared and to release it when it came to an end. Results showed that the memory subjects extracted actions more frequently and in longer duration than the impression subjects. Furthermore, the memory subjects recalled more behaviors than the impression subjects, whereas the latter subjects used more personality-trait descriptions than the former.