This, in turn, affected how they rated the boy's intelligence. However, those who didn't have to memorize the number could focus solely on watching the boy's performance and compensate for their natural negativity. When they watch the videotape, they expect a bad performance. When that doesn't happen, they are surprised - and that causes them to adjust their judgment to be more fair. This finding contradicts some theories that suggest people don't alter their initial impressions of a person's behavior.
People can reconsider what they observed and recode it in their memory.
Pessimists may begin watching the videotape with the expectation that the boy is not going to do well. Weary said the results have many real-world applications. Even if your supervisor is not a pessimist, Weary added, you still might be at risk for an overly harsh evaluation. The social and economic costs for employees of such judgments may well be very real and very significant. The best advice is to make sure your supervisor is not distracted or hurried when he or she is evaluating your work, she said.