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anchoring
Your mind is trapped by the first number you hear.
The anchoring effect causes individuals to rely too heavily on the initial piece of information offered when making subsequent judgments.
In a 1974 study, participants were asked to estimate the percentage of African countries in the UN after spinning a wheel of fortune. Even though the number was random, those who saw a high number gave estimates nearly twice as high as those who saw a low number.
Your final estimate is often just a reflection of your starting point.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Tversky and Kahneman, 1974
- What the check found
- The claim accurately describes the seminal Tversky and Kahneman (1974) 'Judgment under Uncertainty' study, which is the standard citation for the anchoring effect.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.