ABSTRACT
Research has shown that mental representations of significant others are readily activated and applied to new persons in such a way that a new person is interpreted in terms of a significant other. In this way, a new person is likely to be remembered as having characteristics of a pertinent significant other and to be evaluated accordingly (Andersen & Baum, 1994). In particular, a memory effect emerges for information not presented about the new person, but consistent with the representation, so that this information is likely to be remembered; that is, when the significant-other representation is applied to a new person, this memory effect emerges (Andersen & Cole, 1990, Study 3; Andersen, Glassman, Chen, & Cole, 1995) by means of basic principles of social construct activation and application, in terms of social construct theory (Bruner, 1957; Higgins,
1989, 1990, in press; Higgins & King, 1981; Kelly, 1955; Sedikides & Skowronski, 1991; see Andersen & Glassman, 1996). We have argued that this experimental work demonstrates transference (Freud, 1912/1958; see discussion of parataxic distortion by Sullivan, 1953) in general social perception, in information-processing terms (Andersen & Cole, 1990; Singer, 1988; Wachtel, 1981; Westen, 1988).
