Actually, Dr. Chris Nass (author of The Man Who Lied to his Laptop [1]) claims that people's memory of what is said after criticism is much better than what is

Actually, Dr. Chris Nass (author of The Man Who Lied to his Laptop [1]) claims that people's memory of what is said after criticism is much better than what is said before criticism, so you should start with small praise, then criticism, then end with a larger amount of specific praise. He talks about it a bit in a Science Friday interview [2] and apparently more in the book. [1] - http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Lied-Laptop-Relationships/dp/B004J8HY8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305724647&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Lied-Laptop-Relationships/dp/B... [2] - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129629756 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1296297...