To study the processes by which past behaviour influences future behaviour, participants were led to believe that without being aware of it, they had expressed either support for or opposition to the institution of comprehensive exams. Judgment and response time data suggested that participants’ perceptions of their past behaviour often influenced their decisions to repeat the behaviour. This influence was partly the result of cognitive activity that influenced participants’ cognitions about specific behavioural consequences and the attitude they based on these cognitions. More generally, however, feedback about past behaviour had a direct effect on participants’ attitudes and ultimate behavioural decisions that were independent of the outcome-specific cognitions. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for biased scanning of memory, dissonance reduction, self-perception, and the use of behaviour as a heuristic.

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2 years ago