Previous research has suggested the existence of a primacy effect in the attribution of ability. To test if the primacy effect occurs in situations where specific cues about the person and nature of the test materials are lacking or greatly reduced, college students corrected a multiple-choice test in which a phantom stimulus person correctly answered 15 of 30 questions in a descending or ascending pattern of success. Subjects were then asked to make judgments concerning the person's performance, intelligence and gender. Contrary to expectations, the lack of cues enhanced, rather than diminished, the primacy effect for ability attribution found by earlier investigators. The performer with descending success was perceived as having solved more problems and being more intelligent, and was expected to perform better in the future. An overall bias toward perceiving the stimulus person as a male also occurred. The findings reflect the importance of person cues for confidence in making ability attributions. (Author/JAC)