I question describing this as a cognitive bias, let alone an unconscious one, and the experimental protocol used here is awful for attempting to show that it is.
The examples they give: Job interviews, dating, auditions, are all cases of search for the best out of a set of possibilities. The earliest candidates have the initial advantage of there being few in the set, or none, for the first candidate. Since the purpose is to compare the entire set, by definition, the first one is the best you've seen. Even if they objectively aren't great, the rating at that time will tend to be more positive. That isn't a bias, it's a best-effort judgement in the face of incomplete information. You'd need a crystal ball not to do this.
What they're measuring is immediate impressions, while what they should be measuring is decisions made after the search concludes. I've certainly had the experience of interviewing a candidate for a job and telling myself "yeah, might be ok", then a later candidate comes by and I adjust that to "no, this one is much better". If they want to show that being first or early in such a sequence makes it more likely someone will get picked, they've failed to do so with this protocol.
I had the same thought regarding decisions vs impressions.
For what it's worth, my preference during my time as a working actor was to audition first thing after lunch. I figured (based largely on my own experiences as an auditor) that the first people in the day would be forgotten / calibrated against, and those later in the morning would be victims of fatigue, whereas directly after lunch I'd have the best chance to make the best impression on fresh auditors. I had objectively excellent rates of success, so figured that method was good enough. <shrug>
I don't think that generalizes to more extensive interview processes. Auditions are weird: you get a "hello", then five minutes (max) to do two monologues, or one monologue and a song. It's basically a cattle-call, and very hard to stand out. Sometimes the "hello" is actually the most important thing, sometimes what you're wearing is what makes the best impression. As an actor you have essentially zero control, and yet that gives you utter and complete freedom.
Still: first thing after lunch. Works every time, except when it doesn't.
I can't tell from the linked article whether the ratings/descriptions were made immediately, but if so you are correct. It's just not applicable to those examples. This only applies in a "hired on the spot" type of evaluation.
I'm a psychologist, and though HN usually tends to be tough on psychology as a science, I'm amazed that this paper is being discussed so earnestly. Social science in particular should require a bit more skepticism.
The examples they give: Job interviews, dating, auditions, are all cases of search for the best out of a set of possibilities. The earliest candidates have the initial advantage of there being few in the set, or none, for the first candidate. Since the purpose is to compare the entire set, by definition, the first one is the best you've seen. Even if they objectively aren't great, the rating at that time will tend to be more positive. That isn't a bias, it's a best-effort judgement in the face of incomplete information. You'd need a crystal ball not to do this.
What they're measuring is immediate impressions, while what they should be measuring is decisions made after the search concludes. I've certainly had the experience of interviewing a candidate for a job and telling myself "yeah, might be ok", then a later candidate comes by and I adjust that to "no, this one is much better". If they want to show that being first or early in such a sequence makes it more likely someone will get picked, they've failed to do so with this protocol.