anchoring-bias is the cognitive tendency wherein an initial numeric or qualitative value (the anchor) disproportionately influences subsequent judgments and estimates, even when the anchor is arbitrary or irrelevant. Parameters: (1) the anchor must be encountered before or during judgment; (2) adjustment from the anchor is typically insufficient (underadjustment); (3) the anchor can be consciously recognized as irrelevant yet still exert influence. Persistence mechanism: anchored in experimental replication across domains (pricing, negotiation, moral judgment), encoded in textbooks and lecture curricula of cognitive psychology and behavioral economics, and deployed operationally in choice architecture and debiasing protocols. [formal: anchoring bias | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.20]
Accepted ontology entry
anchoring-bias
anchoring-bias is the cognitive tendency wherein an initial numeric or qualitative value (the anchor) disproportionately influences subsequent judgments and estimates, even when the anchor is arbitrary or irrelevant. Parameters: (1) the an…
Definition
Why it is in scope
anchoring-bias is a human-made psychological construct describing a systematic pattern in human judgment and decision-making -- the tendency to rely too heavily on initial information (the anchor) when making subsequent judgments. It is a concept developed in cognitive psychology to categorize and predict a reproducible error in estimation. As a taxonomic map of human reasoning, it persists through empirical research, pedagogical transmission in psychology and behavioral economics, and its operationalization in decision science and public policy interventions.
Names and aliases
- anchoring-biasen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrmwufxy01pxd1nllvxs1o1sINSTANCE_OF →
Anchoring-bias is a specific cognitive bias where initial values (anchors) disproportionately influence decisions. This is a specific case of the general category 'cognitive-bias'. INSTANCE_OF direction is correct: specific → general.
- cmroz165a05x5d1nllp34a1huDEPENDS_ON →
The concept of anchoring-bias depends on the concept of anchoring: without the concept of an anchor (initial reference point that disproportionately influences decisions), the concept of anchoring-bias (the tendency to over-rely on such anchors) cannot operate. Removal test: remove anchoring and anchoring-bias loses its entire referent — it stops operating, not just being sayable. Law 8.
- cmrxtn21l042zsoac1qz19b5iINSTANCE_OF →
anchoring-bias IS a specific kind of heuristics-and-biases phenomenon: the tendency to rely too heavily on initial information. A competent speaker would classify anchoring as a heuristic-and-bias. Direction specific→general.
- cmrhz9rsf02sj8aehlj6dd3jnDEPENDS_ON →
Anchoring bias operates through an expectation set by an initial value: remove expectation and the anchoring bias cannot function — without the capacity to form expectations about numerical magnitude, there is no anchor to bias subsequent judgments. Present-tense dependency: the cognitive mechanism requires expectation to operate now.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 17, 2026, 3:50 PM UTC
- Content hash
- acd446372f314bccf9c64558772fe17bf1097a662ac4fdb0f198f7fc69842ff4