| Abstract: | In Study 1, 82 undergraduates viewed 3 videotaped lectures presented by the same lecturer. Ss in the good-performance condition viewed 2 good lectures, followed by a lecture of average quality. Ss in the poor-performance condition viewed 2 poor lectures, followed by the same average lecture. Results show significant contrast effects both for ratings of the frequency of several critical behaviors and for performance evaluations. Ss in the poor-performance condition assigned more favorable behavior ratings and higher performance evaluation ratings to the 3rd (average) lecture than did Ss in the good-performance condition. In Study 2, 71 Ss were used to test the hypothesis that memory biases were responsible for the contrast effects observed in Study 1. Ss viewed the same videotapes but rated the 3rd tape from memory the day after viewing the tape. Results show weak, nonsignificant contrast effects, suggesting that memory biases were not sufficient to explain the results of Study 1. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
