We assessed the effects of the order in which groups undertake different tasks in a multitask situation, using mock juries. Subjects watched a videotaped enactment of a criminal trial involving three joined charges and then, either individually or as members of six-person groups, decided on the guilt or innocence of the defendant on all three charges in one of three orders: descending seriousness, ascending seriousness, or no specified order. The results, concerning the charge of medium seriousness (the middle charge of both specified orders), showed that the proportion of convictions for both individuals and groups was greater in the descending seriousness order. Further analyses showed that conviction on earlier charges significantly increased the relative frequency of conviction on later charges. These findings are discussed in relation both to earlier results that support a contrast explanation of such order effects and to the influence of task order on group decision processes in general.

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