Should you trust your first impressions?

You can’t help it, sometimes you just get a bad feeling about someone that’s hard to shake. So, what’s
happening in your brain when you make that critical (and often lasting) first judgement? Peter Mende-
Siedlecki shares the social psychology of first impressions—and why they may indicate that, deep down,
people are basically good

A- WATCH THE VIDEO AND CHOOSE THE BEST OPTION. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH
INFORMATION TO SUPPORT YOUR CHOICE.

1- Research suggests that when learning about someone’s abilities, positive information is _______ compared
to negative information
a- Less diagnostic
b- More diagnostic
c- Equally diagnostic
d- Not diagnostic
2- Research suggests that when learning about someone’s morality, positive information is ______ as
compared to negative information
a- Less diagnostic
b- More diagnostic
c- Equally diagnostic
d- Not diagnostic
3- When forming and updating impressions of other people, we tend to give more weight to behaviours that
are _______
a- Statistically common
b- Negative in character
c- Relatively predictable
d- Perceived as being less frequent
4- When updating impressions based on people’s behaviours, activity in ________ correlates with perceptions
of how frequently those behaviours occur in daily life
a- Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum
b- Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala
c- Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and superior temporal sulcus
d- Amygdala and fusiform cortex
5- Researchers have used ______ to investigate the brain regions involved in impression updating
a- EEG
b- PET scans
c- Single-unit recordings
d- fMRI
6- Research suggests that we can form stable impressions of other people based on as little as a single
behaviour. What is the ultimate benefit and importance of this ability?
7- Create a brief story or scenario that describes the typical patterns of impression updating, focusing on
behaviour that illustrates either ability or morality.
8- When learning about other people based on their behaviour, is bad stronger than good? Why? Why not?
Discuss the implications of your answer
9- What are some other factors that might influence our impressions? Write an opinion essay of about 180
words.