Why Are Traits Inferred Spontaneously? A Developmental Approach

This study tested the hypothesis that the extent to which traits are inferred from behavior spontaneously (without intentions or awareness) covaries with the perceived usefulness of dispositional information for predicting behavior. In Experiment 1, first-graders, fifth-graders, and adults received trait-diagnostic information about target people and guessed how they would behave in other situations. As predicted, fifth-graders were most likely to expect trait-consistent behavior, though subjects from an urban school with a large Latino population were more sensitive to situational factors. For Experiment 2, a reaction time measure of spontaneous inference based on McKoon and Ratcliff's (1986) word recognition paradigm was developed. Supporting the hypothesis, those fifth-graders more attuned to the predictive value of trait-related information were also more likely than other subjects to spontaneously infer the trait meanings of behavior.