What is the anchoring effect?

Relying too heavily on the first number you see

In their study, what did people estimate after spinning a wheel?

The percentage of African countries in the UN

Why do anchors work, according to Tversky and Kahneman?

People adjust from the anchor but not enough

People ignore the anchor completely

People always choose the anchor

How do was and now price tags use anchoring?

The higher was price makes the sale price look cheap

Why can making the first offer help in negotiations?

It sets an anchor for the rest of the talks

What did a 1987 study find about real estate agents?

Listing prices influenced their value estimates

What did experiments with judges and dice show?

Random numbers influenced suggested sentences

Which strategy helps reduce anchoring?

Consider reasons why the anchor might be wrong

Anchoring Effect Quiz: How First Numbers Bias Prices

In a 1974 experiment, a wheel that stopped on 10 or 65 shifted people's estimates of African countries in the UN, and this anchoring effect quiz explains why. Play 10 online questions on Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, list prices, first offers, real estate experts, sentencing studies and how to resist a number that sticks.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Definition
What is the anchoring effect?
Researchers
Which psychologists described anchoring in their 1974 paper?
Wheel
In their study, what did people estimate after spinning a wheel?
Adjustment
Why do anchors work, according to Tversky and Kahneman?
Shopping
How do was and now price tags use anchoring?
Negotiation
Why can making the first offer help in negotiations?
Experts
What did a 1987 study find about real estate agents?
Courts
What did experiments with judges and dice show?
Nobel
Which researcher won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics partly for this work?
Defense
Which strategy helps reduce anchoring?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What is the anchoring effect?
Answer: Relying too heavily on the first number you see
An initial value pulls later estimates toward it, even when it is irrelevant.
Q2: Which psychologists described anchoring in their 1974 paper?
Answer: Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman
Their paper Judgment under Uncertainty introduced several famous biases.
Q3: In their study, what did people estimate after spinning a wheel?
Answer: The percentage of African countries in the UN
Those who saw 65 gave much higher guesses than those who saw 10.
Q4: Why do anchors work, according to Tversky and Kahneman?
Answer: People adjust from the anchor but not enough
The process is called anchoring and insufficient adjustment.
Q5: How do was and now price tags use anchoring?
Answer: The higher was price makes the sale price look cheap
The original price acts as an anchor for perceived value.
Q6: Why can making the first offer help in negotiations?
Answer: It sets an anchor for the rest of the talks
Studies show first offers often influence the final agreement.
Q7: What did a 1987 study find about real estate agents?
Answer: Listing prices influenced their value estimates
Agents shown higher listing prices gave higher appraisals while denying any influence.
Q8: What did experiments with judges and dice show?
Answer: Random numbers influenced suggested sentences
Legal experts given higher random anchors proposed longer sentences.
Q9: Which researcher won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics partly for this work?
Answer: Daniel Kahneman
Tversky had died in 1996, and Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously.
Q10: Which strategy helps reduce anchoring?
Answer: Consider reasons why the anchor might be wrong
Generating arguments against the anchor and seeking other reference points weakens its pull.

Anchoring Effect Quiz – When the First Number Sticks

The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias in which people rely too heavily on the first piece of numerical information they see. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman described it in 1974.

In their famous study, a rigged wheel stopped at 10 or 65 before people estimated the share of African countries in the United Nations. Higher anchors produced higher guesses. They explained the effect as insufficient adjustment from a starting point.

Anchoring appears in shopping, where was prices make discounts look bigger, in negotiations, where first offers shape outcomes, and even among experts such as real estate agents and judges. Considering why an anchor might be wrong can reduce its influence.

What This Quiz Teaches

Psychology students and curious readers will enjoy these questions.

What anchoring is
Who first described it
How the wheel study worked
Where anchors appear in daily life
How to resist them

Did You Know?

Menus sometimes list a very expensive dish to anchor others.
Anchors work even when people know they are random.
Kahneman wrote Thinking, Fast and Slow.
Salary negotiations are a common anchoring arena.
Experts are not immune to anchoring.