The Primacy Effect in Impression Formation: Some Replications and Extensions

Individuals described as “fun, witty, and vicious” are typically rated more favorably than those described as “vicious, witty, and fun” despite the semantic equivalence of these statements. This is known as the primacy effect in impression formation. We tested whether these effects emerge from pragmatic inferences about communicative intentions (e.g., that communicators should relay the most important information first). Participants heard a list of descriptors, with the most positive adjective listed either first or last; they also learned either that (a) the list was compiled by a human (licensing the inference that the most important information should be conveyed first) or (b) randomly ordered by a computer (thus blocking such an inference). Across five experiments (total N = 2,882), we found support for a small primacy effect in impression formation, but found no evidence of a pragmatic explanation for primacy effects.

Effects of a dancing intervention on mood states in a woman with fibromyalgia: A case report

The objective of this study was to verify the effects of a dancing intervention on mood states in a woman with fibromyalgia. A case report in which an intervention protocol consisted of dance classes of 2 sessions per week for 6 weeks, totaling 12 sessions. The List of Mood States - Reduced and Illustrated version (LOMS-RI) was applied before and after each intervention session. The LOMS-RI contains 14 adjectives, and each is represented by a drawing of a face with its corresponding expression. Each of the adjectives presented a scale of four values. A descriptive analysis was performed. The proposed protocol promoted a positive influence in which there was an increase in the positive adjective set score after each session. In addition, there was a decrease in the negative adjective set score after all sessions, except the first session. So, the dance protocol can positively influence the mood states in woman with fibromyalgia.

The Primacy Effect in Impression Formation: Some Replications and Extensions

Individuals described as “fun, witty, and vicious” are typically rated more favorably than those described as “vicious, witty, and fun” despite the semantic equivalence of these statements. This is known as the primacy effect in impression formation. We tested whether these effects emerge from pragmatic inferences about communicative intentions (e.g., that communicators should relay the most important information first). Participants heard a list of descriptors, with the most positive adjective listed either first or last; they also learned either that (a) the list was compiled by a human (licensing the inference that the most important information should be conveyed first) or (b) randomly ordered by a computer (thus blocking such an inference). Across five experiments (total N = 2,882), we found support for a small primacy effect in impression formation, but found no evidence of a pragmatic explanation for primacy effects.

The Impact of Contact Languages on the Grammaticalization of the Modern Hebrew Superlative

Modern Hebrew grammatical constructions include a tripartite paradigm of degree comparison consisting of the positive adjective, the comparative, and the superlative. Such a paradigm did not exist in classical Hebrew, and the expression of the superlative in both Biblical Hebrew and Rabbinic Hebrew required reference to a comparison class by means of a noun. Based on an examination of textual evidence from the initial phases of the formation of Modern Hebrew, this article traces the emergence of the modern superlative constructions and evaluates the role of contact languages in the process.