Imagine if you and I, or your group members, are meeting for the first time! Impression research indicates that what we see in others, initially, and what others see in us tends to be remembered. It seems that most of us have a tendency to give more weight to our first impressions of a person than to our later impressions. This tendency is called the primacy effect.[1] 

What does this primacy effect suggest to you in taking a class from a teacher, in getting acquainted with others, or in preparing for a job interview?  

What kinds of characteristics do most of us remember? Research by Charles Osgood  indicates that people remember basically three dimensions:

1. an evaluation dimension such as good/bad,

2. a potency dimension such as a strong/weak,

3. an activity dimension such as active/passive.

Solomon Asch illustrated this point in presenting the following list of adjectives: Which person would you rather have for your friend? Do you see any difference?

Person A

Person B

Intelligent	Intelligent
Skillful	Skillful
Industrious	Industrious
Warm	Cold
Determined	Determined
Practical	Practical
Cautious	Cautious

Answer: If you chose Person A, you are like most people, who tend to see the characteristics of warm and cold as central, i.e., people give more weight to them, and remember them more easily,

Another experiment by Solomon Asch  provides additional evidence for first impression research. Consider the following. What is the impression of Person A and Person B?

Person A

Person B

Intelligent	Envious
Industrious	Stubborn
Impulsive	Critical
Critical	Impulsive
Stubborn	Industrious
Envious	Intelligent

Solomon Asch found that Person A was seen more favorably, i.e., he found that the adjectives that were presented first tended to be remembered easier. [2]

Assignment