TY - JOUR
T1 - Social value and attitude concepts in semantic memory
T2 - Relational structure, concept strength, and the fan effect
AU - Thomsen, Cynthia J.
AU - Lavine, Howard
AU - Kounios, John
PY - 1996/1/1
Y1 - 1996/1/1
N2 - To assess cognitive-structural associations between attitudes and values, we measured the speed with which participants judged the truth of sentences asserting that particular attitude (e.g., affirmative action) and value (e.g., equality) concepts were related. Results were well-described by Anderson's (1983) ACT* model. First, sentences containing attitude-value pairs either high or low in semantic relatedness were responded to more quickly than those containing pairs moderate in relatedness. Second, we predicted and found stronger priming effects when either the prime or the target was strong (i.e., personally important) than when it was weak. Finally, our data revealed a classic "fan effect;" attitude and value primes produced more response facilitation when they had few, rather than many, cognitive associates. Moreover, values had more associates than did attitudes, and this difference accounted for the greater effectiveness of attitudes than values as primes. Our results document structural differences between and among attitudes and values and illuminate the consequences of these differences for information processing.
AB - To assess cognitive-structural associations between attitudes and values, we measured the speed with which participants judged the truth of sentences asserting that particular attitude (e.g., affirmative action) and value (e.g., equality) concepts were related. Results were well-described by Anderson's (1983) ACT* model. First, sentences containing attitude-value pairs either high or low in semantic relatedness were responded to more quickly than those containing pairs moderate in relatedness. Second, we predicted and found stronger priming effects when either the prime or the target was strong (i.e., personally important) than when it was weak. Finally, our data revealed a classic "fan effect;" attitude and value primes produced more response facilitation when they had few, rather than many, cognitive associates. Moreover, values had more associates than did attitudes, and this difference accounted for the greater effectiveness of attitudes than values as primes. Our results document structural differences between and among attitudes and values and illuminate the consequences of these differences for information processing.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030355288&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0030355288&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1521/soco.1996.14.3.191
DO - 10.1521/soco.1996.14.3.191
M3 - Short survey
AN - SCOPUS:0030355288
SN - 0278-016X
VL - 14
SP - 191
EP - 225
JO - Social Cognition
JF - Social Cognition
IS - 3
ER -