This article describes how the effects of initial and final lecture quality on endof-course student ratings can be predicted from seemingly unrelated gain-loss theory. The effects were investigated, along with the effect on ratings of student belief that the instructor will use midterm rating feedback to improve teaching. Using videotaped lectures in a 2 X 2 X 2 laboratory analogue study, we manipulated Lecture 1 (good, poor), Lecture 2 (good, poor), and whether students were told that feedback to the instructor about Lecture 1 would be used to improve teaching (yes, no). Employing Lecture 2 ratings as the principal measure, we found that ratings varied moderately and inversely with Lecture 1 quality (negative primacy effect), greatly and directly with Lecture 2 quality (positive recency effect), and trivially with feedback. The primacy/ recency findings confirmed gain-loss predictions and illustrate how gain-loss theory can be interpreted as primacy/recency effects. We discuss implications for expectancy research and field research on instructors using midterm ratings to improve instruction in the final portion of the course.Student ratings of college instruction ratings will be called recency effects.The often lead to the classification of teachers as practical purpose of this study was to degood or poor, with the tacit assumption that termine the degree to which primacy and performance was consistently good or con-recency effects can be found in end-of-course sistently poor. Performance may not be ratings. The theoretical purpose was to consistent, however. For example, an in-show how these effects can be predicted from structor who obtains midcourse feedback on seemingly unrelated gain-loss theory, his or her teaching may go to great lengths to change. Accordingly, to aid in the inter-Gain-Loss Theory pretation of end-of-course ratings, it would be useful to determine the degree to which Gain-loss theory (Aronson & Linder, they are affected by initial and final teaching 1965) makes precise predictions about priperformance. The effects of initial teaching macy/recency effects, but the rationale is long performance on end-of-course ratings will be and complex. Aronson and Linder studied called primacy effects, and the effects of how the sequence of favorable and unfavorfinal teaching performance on end-of-course able information about oneself affected one's evaluation of the person giving the infor-. mation. They found that evaluations were This research was supported by Grant S76-0345 from most favorable for the negative-positive the Canada Council. condition (negative information followed by Portions of this article were presented at the annual positive information), which was followed, meeting of the American Educational Research Assom order, by the positive-positive, nega-^^JSfiS^^tol-l^^ tive-negative, and positive-negative condi-Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, tlons -i njs ordering ot conditions Will be Winnipeg, Canada R3T 2N2.called the gain-loss findings.