Let's say you hear a series of sentences derogatory to Britney Spears, such as "Britney Spears can't hit any high notes," and then are asked to rate how interesting each sentence is. You then hear the sentence, "Britney Spears can't hit any high notes" again. What effect can this sort of priming have?
A) It will generally, over time, make you averse to Britney Spears.
B) It will generally lead you to conclude the opposite-that is, that Britney Spears can hit high notes.
C) It will generally lead you to accept the sentence as being true.
D) It will generally produce memory errors at a rate higher than average.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Priming can influence our beliefs and judgments, leading us to accept information as true or valid. In this case, hearing a series of derogatory statements about Britney Spears can prime us to accept the statement "Britney Spears can't hit any high notes" as true or accurate, even if we have no evidence to support this claim. This effect is known as the primacy effect, where the first information presented has a strong influence on subsequent judgments. Therefore, the effect of this sort of priming is likely to lead us to accept the sentence as being true.

Let's Say You Hear a Series of Sentences Derogatory to Britney