How far do we go beyond the information given? The impact of knowledge activation on interpretation and inference

In a series of 4 studies, the inferential scope of assimilative knowledge accessibility effects was investigated. Evidence was found for the hypothesis that both the breadth and evaluative extremity of activated knowledge affect the range of evaluative inferences made during the interpretation of ambiguous targets. The scope of knowledge accessibility effects was larger when broad and extreme traits were primed than when narrow and moderate traits were primed. The contribution of the extremity component to this effect was stronger than the impact of the breadth component. Furthermore, the authors demonstrated that descriptive overlap between priming and target stimuli is not a necessary precondition for such interpretation effects to occur. Descriptive inapplicability may be compensated for when priming stimuli are sufficiently broad or extreme.