The Effects of Pattern of Performance and Order of Presentation On Recall and Attribution of Ability

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to test the effects of the pattern of a stimulus person's performance (ascending pattern or descending pattern) and the order of presentation of the performances (normal chronological order or reverse chronological order) on observers' recall of performance and attributions of ability. A significant interaction between pattern and order was found on the measures of recall of number of success, predictions of future success, and attributed ability. With the normal chronological order, the ratings were higher for the descending pattern, but under the reverse chronological order ratings were higher for the ascending pattern. The results are discussed in terms of the stable entity proposition.

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References

Jones, E.E. , Goethals, G.R. , Kennington, G.E. , & Severance, L.J. Primacy and assimilation in the attribution process: The stable entity proposition. Journal of Personality , 1972, 40, 250-274.

Jones, E.E. , Rock, L. , Shaver, K.G. , Goethals, G.R. , & Ward, L.M. Pattern of performance and ability attribution: An unexpected primacy effect . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 10, 317-340.