Shrinkage's influence on tension stiffening in flexure and subsequent short-term deflection effects in beams and slabs is investigated. Shrinkage can significantly affect initial short-term response (particularly for laboratory-tested beams used to develop and validate deflection prediction theoretical models), although shrinkage is typically thought of as a long-term effect. A shift in the cracked transformed section's bare bar response is caused by shrinkage taking place before beam loading is locked into member response, resulting in cracking moment reduction (caused by tensile stresses that have developed due reinforcement shrinkage restraint created in the concrete). Immediate (short-term) deflection of a flexure-loaded member is increased when a shift in cracked member response and lower cracking moment work together. A perceived reduction in tension stiffening levels results, and the comparison of experimental results with theoretical deflection models is also affected, when this influence is neglected.