Precision of the Anchor Influences the Amount of Adjustment
Janiszewski and Uy examine the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic, which has been used to account for a wide variety of numerical judgements, and show that the precision of the anchor changes how far people move away from it. Across five studies, adjustment away from an anchor was smaller if the anchor was precise than if it was rounded. The authors' explanation is representational. Evidence in the paper suggests that precise anchors, compared with rounded anchors, are represented on a subjective scale of finer resolution. If adjustment consists of a series of iterative mental movements along such a scale, then each movement away from a precise anchor covers less ground than a movement away from a rounded one, and so the overall correction ends up smaller. The practical upshot is that a quantity stated precisely holds a judgement closer to itself than the same quantity stated in round terms, even though nothing about the quantity has changed.
Janiszewski and Uy examine the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic, which has been used to account for a wide variety of numerical judgements, and show that the precision of the anchor changes how far people move away from it. Across five studies, adjustment away from an anchor was smaller if the anchor was precise than if it was rounded. The authors' explanation is representational. Evidence in the paper suggests that precise anchors, compared with rounded anchors, are represented on a subjective scale of finer resolution. If adjustment consists of a series of iterative mental movements along such a scale, then each movement away from a precise anchor covers less ground than a movement away from a rounded one, and so the overall correction ends up smaller. The practical upshot is that a quantity stated precisely holds a judgement closer to itself than the same quantity stated in round terms, even though nothing about the quantity has changed.
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Janiszewski, C., & Uy, D. (2008). 'Precision of the anchor influences the amount of adjustment.' Psychological Science, 19(2), 121-127. Five studies; adjustment away from a numerical anchor is smaller if the anchor is precise than if it is rounded, with evidence that precise anchors are represented on a subjective scale with finer resolution. Verified at the published record 2026-10-01. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02057.x
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02057.x
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02057.x