'First impressions are lasting impressions'. This is an example of __________ .
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Primacy effect
Option (1) Average effect — Incorrect. There is no such effect in impression formation. The two effects of the order of information are the primacy and the recency effect, and a lasting first impression is the primacy effect.
Option (2) Impression effect — Incorrect. There is no such effect; forming an impression is the whole process, and the effect asked about is a feature of that process.
Option (3) Primacy effect — Correct. The order in which information is presented affects the impression formed. Mostly, the information presented first has a stronger effect than the information presented at the end. This is called the primacy effect: first impressions are the lasting impressions.
Option (4) Recency effect — Incorrect. If the perceiver is asked to pay attention to all the information, whatever comes at the end may have a stronger influence. That is the recency effect, the opposite of a lasting first impression.
Note: The primacy effect in impression formation was there in the chapter ‘Attitudes and Social Cognition’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2022, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Impression Formation … The order or sequence in which information is presented affects the kind of impression formed. Mostly, the information presented first has a stronger effect than the information presented at the end. This is called the primacy effect (first impressions are the lasting impressions). However, if the perceiver may be asked to pay attention to all the information, and not merely to the first information, whatever information comes at the end may have a stronger influence. This is known as the recency effect.…” |