When trying a case, lawyers often call their strongest witness last due to jurors being prone to which psychological effect?

• A. The spacing effect
• B. The recency effect
• C. The primacy effect
• D. The misinformation effect

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the psychological effects listed: the spacing effect relates to memory improvement through spaced repetition; the primacy effect refers to better recall of items presented first; the recency effect refers to better recall of items presented last; and the misinformation effect involves memory distortion due to misleading information.
2. Recognize that lawyers want jurors to remember their strongest witness most clearly, so they strategically place this witness at a point where jurors' memory is strongest.
3. Recall that the recency effect means people tend to remember the most recent information better than earlier information.
4. Connect this to the legal strategy: by calling the strongest witness last, lawyers leverage the recency effect to maximize jurors' memory and impact of that testimony.
5. Conclude that the psychological effect influencing this strategy is the recency effect, as it explains why jurors remember the last witness better.