Abstract
The set-size effect in impression formation has been a highly reliable phenomenon when set size was varied as a within-S factor, but this effect has often been absent in between-S designs. Researchers have questioned the use of one or the other of these design techniques and have consequently labeled as artifactual either the presence or absence of set-size effects. This is a crucial matter for theories of impression formation. Studies are cited which have obtained the set-size effect in a paired-comparisons paradigm where previous design criticisms would not seem to apply, and in between-S designs using specific procedural techniques. It is concluded that the set-size effect is not an artifact.
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Levin, I.P., Kaplan, M.F. The set-size effect in personality impression formation is not an artifact. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 3, 187–188 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333439
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333439