Blog 6

Miller and Campbell (1959) demonstrated the recency and primacy effects in jury decisions by having the presentations of the defense and prosecution in differing orders, and differing in the time between the argument presentation and the jury's decision. They found that when the decision was delayed a primacy effect was in place. However, when the decision must be made directly after the presentations, that a recency effect occurred.

While there are probably a plethora of examples of this phenomenon, one example is an error that I make on a regular basis. When I walk through a store of any sort, I try my best to spend as little money as possible. I get only the things that I decide that I absolutely must have. However, when I get to the impulse isle at the checkout stand, I am usually ruined if there is a line at all. Looking at the magazine covers, the candy, and often the little gidgets and gadgets is too much!! Even if I have seen the item elsewhere in the store I cannot resist them when I'm in the home stretch. Even if it is a 5 dollar item I can justify it to myself even if when I was in the store far away from checkout I decided that it was not worth it. I guess I feel that it is my last chance to make a change before I checkout.


Reference:
Miller, N. & Campbell, D. (1959). Recency and primacy in persuasion as a function of the timing of speeches and measurements. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 1-9.