Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic

The Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic is a mental shortcut where people rely heavily on the first piece of information (the "anchor") when making judgments. They then make adjustments from this initial point to reach a final decision, but these adjustments are often insufficient. For example, if asked whether the Nile River is longer than 5,000 miles, and then asked its actual length, your estimate is likely influenced by the initial anchor of 5,000 miles, leading to a biased estimate. This heuristic shows how initial information can disproportionately shape our evaluations, even if that info is arbitrary.