Abstract
Information processing under general anesthesia: effects on the disambiguation of social information. We examine the effect of subliminal information on the interpretation of ambiguous behavior. The information dealt with a social category and a stereotypical trait associated with this category. Thirty patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia took part in the experiment. One third of the participants were presented with auditory information concerning a social category and an associated stereotypical trait (e.g., the firefighter is brave). Another third received the same social categories but the traits were synonymous of the stereotypical trait (e.g., the firefighter is daring). The remaining group did not receive any subliminal information. After they regained consciousness, the patients were asked to select the trait that best described a category's member who performed a certain type of behavior (e. g., the firefighter faces dangerous situations with determination). An ANOVA showed that the subliminal presentation of stereotypical traits, in contrast to synonymous information and non-information increased the use of such traits to describe the behaviors. This result indicates that the activation of related stereotypical traits leads ambiguous information to be interpreted in the direction of the stereotype.
