Tversky and Kahneman (1974) - Study | Pys

Name of the Researcher(s)

Tversky and Kahneman

Year of Publication

1974

Method

True Experiment (Laboratory)

Aim

To investigate if anchoring bias has an effect on mathematical values.

Participants and Procedure

Participants = High School Students

1. The participants were randomly allocated to two conditons where they had to estimate the value of 8!:

   a. Ascending Condition (1×2×3×4×5×6×7×8)

   b. Descending Condition (8×7×6×5×4×3×2×1)

Results

Results show that the ascending condition estimated an average of 512 while the avergae for the descending condition was 2250 when the actual value was 40320.

Conclusion

Anchoring bias is present on mathematical values.

Strengths

+ Standardized —> Replicability
+ High Internal Validity —> Cause and Effect

Limitations

- Artifical —> Low Ecological Validity
- Participant Variability
- Sample Bias