ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Heider’s suggestion that there are parallels between object and person perception in the light of recent evidence. It deals with a brief survey of the determinants of selective attention in the realm of nonsocial stimuli together with anecdotal evidence regarding the impact of selective attention upon perceivers’ judgments about objects. Theory and research on selective attention in object perception has identified intensity, change, complexity, novelty, and unit-formation as stimulus attributes that draw attention. The Gestalt principle that figural or salient stimuli are more impressive and better remembered suggests that attention-drawing people may create a “bigger” impression—that is, they may be seen as more prominent, and their attributes and behaviors may be more thoroughly and accurately perceived. Unit formation is another attention-drawing attribute that may provide certain behaviors with a greater impact upon impressions than others.
