The Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic
Copy the two multiplication problems listed below on separate pieces of paper. Show Problem A to at least five friends, and show Problem B to at least five other friends. In each case, ask the participants to estimate the answer within 5 seconds
A. 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
B. 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 8
Now tally the answers separately for the two problems, listing the answers from smallest to largest. Calculate the median for each problem. (If you have an uneven number of participants, the median is the answer in the middle of the distribution—with half larger and half smaller. If you have an even number of participants, take the average between the two answers in the middle of the distribution.)
