Presentation and Chronological Order Effects in Memory and Judgments
Hartwick, Jon
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/66596
Description
Title
Presentation and Chronological Order Effects in Memory and Judgments
Author(s)
Hartwick, Jon
Issue Date
1981
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Social
Language
eng
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of (a) the order in which stimulus information is received (presentation order) and (b) the order in which the events described by that information occurred in the real world (chronological order) on memory for the information and judgments based upon it. Subjects were initially shown 12 stimulus episodes describing the performance of a student in an English literature course. Moreover, they were given instructions, either before or after stimulus presentation, to concentrate either on the student's level of ability or on the course's level of difficulty. After a 5-minute delay, attributional judgments and memory were tested. Furthermore, two supplementary ability set conditions were also conducted with a delay of two days between stimulus presentation and the dependent measures.
Results of the experiments showed evidence of presentation order primacy effects in the accuracy of subjects' memory as well as the direction of the memory errors that were made, in the ratings of the student's performance, and in the judgments of his effort in the course. Moreover, these measures were related to one another, consistent with a verbal memory hypothesis of subjects' judgments. Interestingly, these primacy effects were not influenced by instructional set or delay. In contrast, presentation order primacy effects in judgments of the student's ability were obtained only when subjects attended to the student's level of ability during stimulus presentation. In addition, these effects decreased over time. The presentation primacy effects in ability attributions are explained by a modification of the discounting hypothesis that includes a focusing of attention mechanism. Finally, while subjects demonstrated that they were initially aware of the chronological sequence of events and in addition used this order as a retrieval cue for their memory responses, chronological order exerted only a small influence on accuracy of memory, the direction of errors in memory and judgments. Reasons for this are discussed.
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