The Sequence of Outcomes and ESP: More Evidence for a Primacy Effect

Subjects with three different beliefs regarding ESP experienced an ascending, descending, or random sequence of outcomes at an ESP task. Subjects in the descending condition recalled more past success and predicted greater future success for themselves than did those in the ascending or random condition. Believers in ESP attributed outcomes more to sender's effort and ability and less to luck than those skeptical about ESP. Results were discussed in terms of the relative - salience of cues used for performance estimates and attributions of causality.