Perception of othersThere is no second chance for a first impression. Perception has never been random, since the beginning of time it has been human nature to judge others before truly having the chance to know them. People immediately turn others into stereotypes in every situation: they form a schema, or an organized set of thoughts about something that contains properties and uses. These patterns influence how people behave towards others. Schemas are usually formed within eight seconds of acquiring an initial impression of a person. Is this known by psychologists as the eight-second rule? where it has been shown that people form hypotheses about others within eight seconds of meeting or seeing an individual for the first time. Human nature has never been expressed so accurately as in one little sentence, yet I never fully understood the cliché until recently. As I sat here in the computer lab last week I noticed how I judge those around me. Even though she doesn't speak, I've already made a guess about the ?girl sitting on my left:? his personality, work habits and attitude through a semantic analogy, or by forming a link between physical appearance and personality. Wearing gray pajama pants and a cozy fleece sweatshirt while holding a dark fabric blanket, I realized in my mind that she likes to be comfortable and secure. She seems to be a girl with a very sweet and cute voice, although I have never heard her speak. As? The girl sitting to my left? she uses earphones while on the computer, I deduce that she is probably very considerate of others. These assumptions may, for all I know, be false and inaccurate, but as a human being I am aware of my judgments of others. I got to... halfway through the paper... considering it clumsy and stupid. Stupidity is a common label that people tend to assign to others. Stephen, a recent friend of mine, seemed from his diction, attitude, and behavior to be a person not of great intelligence or a large vocabulary. As I discovered, Stephen was very intelligent, earned a 3.8 GPA in high school, and had plans to major in political science before graduating from law school. Also, you rightly can't judge a book by its cover. Over the course of not only my experiments, but also my experiences, I have gained a great understanding of how people form quick assumptions about others. Through my experiments and first-hand knowledge I have seen human nature and in the course of my observations I have learned that all of us, even myself, are victims of this judgmental view of others. Impressions, formed by all people, truly influence your interactions in everyday life.