ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses several factors that determine the influence of different pieces of information when presented both separately and in combination. It discusses a more precise understanding of the characteristics of a complex communication that determines its influence upon judgments. The chapter explains to know how this information is processed by subjects in order to arrive at these judgments. It considers the problems of selecting different types of information, determining the characteristics of this information fairly precisely, and manipulating these characteristics systematically to determine their effects upon judgments. The definition of “likeable,” and therefore the effect of information about a particular attribute upon judgments of likeableness, may depend upon the type of object being judged. In some instances, source favorableness may affect judgments of expertise and objectivity. However, instructions to form the collective evaluation by combining component judgments according to a mechanical rule tended to eliminate the effect.
