ABSTRACT
Information is interpreted or encoded by identifying its referents as instances of concepts in memory. These concepts may be vignettes, schemata, or trait or behavior categories at different levels of abstractness. Once an object is interpreted as an instance of a concept by comparing object and concept features, the object may be inferred to have attributes that are associated with the concept. Encoding processes may be viewed as a way of managing the large amounts of information that people often have about others. There are undoubtedly limits to the amount of information a judge can receive and process at any one time. The abstractness of concepts used to encode information is of particular importance in considering the processing of ongoing behavior. Under the standard instructional conditions constructed by D. Newtson, there is substantial interjudge agreement about the number and location of breakpoints.
