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The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic01:25

The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. However, sometimes, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the $2,000...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
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Published on: September 16, 2015

Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases.

A Tversky, D Kahneman

    Science (New York, N.Y.)
    |September 27, 1974
    PubMed
    Summary

    This study identifies three judgment heuristics: representativeness, availability, and adjustment from an anchor. While efficient, these mental shortcuts can lead to predictable errors in decision-making under uncertainty.

    Area of Science:

    • Cognitive Psychology
    • Decision Science
    • Behavioral Economics

    Background:

    • Human judgment under uncertainty often relies on cognitive shortcuts.
    • Understanding these shortcuts is crucial for improving decision-making accuracy.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To describe three key heuristics used in judgment under uncertainty.
    • To explain the systematic errors associated with these heuristics.

    Main Methods:

    • Descriptive analysis of representativeness heuristic.
    • Descriptive analysis of availability heuristic.
    • Descriptive analysis of adjustment from an anchor heuristic.

    Main Results:

    • Representativeness: judging probability based on similarity.

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  • Availability: assessing frequency/plausibility based on ease of recall.
  • Adjustment from anchor: numerical prediction using a starting value.

    • Conclusions:

    • Heuristics are economical and generally effective but prone to systematic biases.
    • Awareness of these heuristics and their associated biases can enhance judgment and decision-making in uncertain situations.