prime the mind to paint impressions

Integration is the process of bringing together something using aspects of experiences, or mental thoughts into one thought. In order to form impressions, we use two general approaches, which are normative and cognitive. The factors that affect are integration are primacy effects, priming, and the trait negativity effect. In simple terms priming is when people use recently learned information to influence or create impressions. According to Higgins (1977) when we are primed with certain ideas, emotions, or experiences, those specific constructs become more dominant in our thinking. Therefore, it influences how we integrate new information into our existing knowledge structures. Higgins and colleagues tested how priming certain traits influenced how people formed impressions of a person. The experiment was that participants read a list of traits that were either positive or negative. Then, they read a story about a character, who performed actions like skydiving and trying new things. The people who were primed with positive traits saw Donald as more adventurous, while those primed with negative traits saw him as reckless. That experiment proved that priming does affect our integration.

Priming I am sure has happened to everyone in some way or another. Whether you bought a new car and then you see said car over and over in your town. Or you learned a new word and then all you hear is that word. I have to say I learned a weird new word meaning trashy or being around trash which is called detritus; I am waiting to hear the word, and I will be so excited to hear it. But something that has happened to me is the word hydroplane. In case you are unsure what hydroplane is, it is when your car hits water and you lose control of said car and in extreme cases, crash. A couple years ago I was headed to school and my dad was driving. It was super wet and rainy the worst days to drive, and my dad is lecturing me on driving in the rain. He mentions that when he was eighteen, he hit a puddle and hydroplaned into a ditch, and he had to crawl out of his truck. (Gory I know) He asked me if I knew what hydroplaning was and he explained it to me. Fast-Forward to after my morning classes me and my boyfriend went to go pick up some lunch. It was still raining, and he said he was worried about hydroplaning. I was so astonished; I have never heard that word before but now I hear it twice in one day! Fast-forward again to getting home and my brother mentions to my mother that he almost hydroplaned driving home. Three! Three times in one day, absolutely insane. I think I heard that word two more times that week and I never heard it again. Weirdest week of my life, I think about it a lot if you could not tell.

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References: E. Tory Higgins, William S. Rholes, Carl R. Jones, Category accessibility and impression formation, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 13, Issue 2, 1977, Pages 141-154,

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Sirena Sauceda