Save the last dance II: Unwanted serial position effects in figure skating judgments

Serial position effects may occur whenever options are judged in sequence, as is the case in figure skating competitions. International figure skating competitions consist of at least two rounds, with serial position being randomized in the first round. Figure skaters with better scores in the first round perform later in the second round. Despite the initial randomization of serial position, figure skaters who perform later in the first round receive better scores in first and in the second round. The findings presented here replicate those of Bruine de Bruin (2005) [Save the last dance for me: unwanted serial position effects in jury evaluations. Acta Psychologica, 118, 245–260], using a larger dataset, and addressing potential concerns about Bruine de Bruin’s analyses.