Topic
Anchoring
About: Anchoring is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5335 publications have been published within this topic receiving 44084 citations.
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TL;DR: This article showed that the anchor effect depends on the applicability of activated information, and that the activated information was not representative for the absolute judgment and the targets of the two judgment tasks were sufficiently different.
Abstract: Results of 3 studies support the notion that anchoring is a special case of semantic priming; specifically, information that is activated to solve a comparative anchoring task will subsequently be more accessible when participants make absolute judgments. By using the logic of priming research, in Study 1 the authors showed that the strength of the anchor effect depends on the applicability of activated information. Study 2 revealed a contrast effect when the activated information was not representative for the absolute judgment and the targets of the 2 judgment tasks were sufficiently different. Study 3 demonstrated that generating absolute judgments requires more time when comparative judgments include an implausible anchor and can therefore be made without relevant target information that would otherwise be accessible.
873 citations
TL;DR: The results of two sets of experiments indicate that adjustments from self-generated anchor values tend to be insufficient because they terminate once a plausible value is reached unless one is able and willing to search for a more accurate estimate.
Abstract: One way to make judgments under uncertainty is to anchor on information that comes to mind and adjust until a plausible estimate is reached. This anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic is assumed to underlie many intuitive judgments, and insufficient adjustment is commonly invoked to explain judgmental biases. However, despite extensive research on anchoring effects, evidence for adjustment-based anchoring biases has only recently been provided, and the causes of insufficient adjustment remain unclear. This research was designed to identify the origins of insufficient adjustment. The results of two sets of experiments indicate that adjustments from self-generated anchor values tend to be insufficient because they terminate once a plausible value is reached (Studies 1a and 1b) unless one is able and willing to search for a more accurate estimate (Studies 2a-2c).
766 citations
TL;DR: A review of the literature in this area including various different models, explanations and underlying mechanisms used to explain anchoring effects can be found in this article, where mood and individual difference (ability, personality, information styles) correlates of anchoring as well as the effect of motivation and knowledge on decisions affected by anchoring.
Abstract: The anchoring effect is one of the most robust cognitive heuristics. This paper reviews the literature in this area including various different models, explanations and underlying mechanisms used to explain anchoring effects. The anchoring effect is both robust and has many implications in all decision making processes. This review paper documents the many different domains and tasks in which the effect has been shown. It also considers mood and individual difference (ability, personality, information styles) correlates of anchoring as well as the effect of motivation and knowledge on decisions affected by anchoring. Finally the review looks at the applicants of the anchoring effects in everyday life.
742 citations
TL;DR: Five studies supported the hypothesis that basic anchoring effects can occur, whereby uninformative numerical anchors influence a judgment even when people are not asked to compare this number to the target value.
Abstract: In previous anchoring studies people were asked to consider an anchor as a possible answer to the target question or were given informative anchors. The authors predicted that basic anchoring effects can occur, whereby uninformative numerical anchors influence a judgment even when people are not asked to compare this number to the target value. Five studies supported these hypotheses: Basic anchoring occurs if people pay sufficient attention to the anchor value; knowledgeable people are less susceptible to basic anchoring effects; anchoring appears to operate unintentionally and nonconsciously in that it is difficult to avoid even when people are forewarned. The possible mechanisms of basic anchoring and the relation between these mechanisms and other processes of judgment and correction are discussed.
694 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the anchors are set at predetermined percentiles of the distribution of estimates in the calibration group (15th and 85th percentiles in this study), which permits the transformation of anchored estimates into percentiles, allowing pooling of results across problems, and provides a natural measure of the size of the effect.
Abstract: The authors describe a method for the quantitative study of anchoring effects in estimation tasks. A calibration group provides estimates of a set of uncertain quantities. Subjects in the anchored condition first judge whether a specified number (the anchor) is higher or lower than the true value before estimating each quantity. The anchors are set at predetermined percentiles of the distribution of estimates in the calibration group (15th and 85th percentiles in this study). This procedure permits the transformation of anchored estimates into percentiles in the calibration group, allows pooling of results across problems, and provides a natural measure of the size of the effect. The authors illustrate the method by a demonstration that the initial judgment of the anchor is susceptible to an anchoring-like bias and by an analysis of the relation between anchoring and subjective confidence.
663 citations