Definitions for "Primacy effect"
In a list, the better memory for items presented first. go to glossary index
(1) In free recall, the tendency to recall the first items on a list more readily than those in the middle. (2) In forming an impression of another person, the tendency to give greater weight to attributes noted at the outset than to those noted later. See also recency effect.
the process whereby our first impression of another person causes us to interpret his or her subsequent behavior in a manner consistent with the first impression