Varying the Order in Which Positive and Negative Information is Presented: Effects on Counselors’ Judgements of Clients’ Mental Health

“Good”, “bad” & “neutral” info on 4 hypothetical clients was presented to 2 groups of counselors in training or in practice in differing orders so that the effects of each on the other could be ascertained. Results indicate bad info presented earlier adversely affected ratings of good info presented later. These effects were more common in the practicing counselors than in the students & may have been because the practitioners were more cautious about the consequences of undervaluing bad info.