A Further Reexamination of the Vigilance Hypothesis with the Use of Random Shapes as Stimuli

Summary The study reported in this paper presents some additional questions concerning Miller and Bieri's vigilance hypothesis. By using randomly generated shapes rather than people as stimuli, it was felt that a replication of previous findings would bring into question the assumption that person perception is necessarily the underlying process being investigated in previous research. Since disliked shapes were perceived more complexly than liked ones (replicating a phenomenon found when persons are used as stimuli), the generality of the vigilance hypothesis was questioned. These results, then, were viewed as supporting the alternative justification hypothesis.