Suppose you take two groups of people and ask them to pick numbers out of two boxes. Except, the numbers in the two boxes are such that one group will always pick numbers between 1 and 30 while the other group will pick numbers between 60 and 90. Then you ask each group: What is the number of countries in the continent of Africa? Which of the following statements is true?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The "anchoring" effect refers to the cognitive bias that causes people to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they see (the "anchor") when making decisions. In this scenario, the first group's anchor is numbers between 1 and 30, and the second group's anchor is numbers between 60 and 90. This suggests that the first group is likely to guess a smaller number for the number of countries in Africa, influenced by their lower anchor, while the second group is likely to guess a higher number, influenced by their higher anchor.

Suppose You Take Two Groups of People and Ask Them