Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior Read Online Free PDF Page B

anchor is true, and if an instance comes to our mind very easily, then we might falsely assume that the anchor is accurate, and so we produce a judgment near that anchor point (Mussweiler & Strack, 2000).
    In courtrooms, judges can falsely associate the ease with which a particular sentence length comes to mind with the frequency of that sentencing. If a prosecutor demands 5 years for a crime, the judge may reflect on past cases where that same sentence was given for that crime. If he can easily think of a particular instance, then he might assume that the length of his sentence should also fall near that anchor of 5 years.
    What makes this application of anchoring particularly unfortunate is that there are many reasons why a particular sentence would come to the judge’s mind besides the frequency of that sentence. Perhaps a 5-year sentence for a particular crime popped into his mind more easily not because of its frequency but because the criminal’s actions in that case were particularly atrocious and memorable. In this scenario, the 5-year sentence would be longer than the average length for that crime, but the judge would falsely believe that it’s an average length. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, people who commit a minor crime might receive a much longer sentence than they deserve because of that mistaken judgment.
    WHAT DETERMINES THE DIRECTION OF ADJUSTMENT?
    This chapter has mainly focused on assimilation : judgments have mostly adjusted toward a provided anchor. However, anchoring can also produce contrast effects : judgments can also adjust away from a provided anchor. To experience a contrast effect, look at the following optical illusion, known as the Ebbinghaus illusion:

     
    Which circle is larger: A or B? Circle A is larger, right? It seems that way, but both circles are actually the same size. This optical illusion demonstrates a contrast effect , the tendency to perceive a stimulus differently depending on the surrounding stimuli. When you judged the size of A and B, your perception was anchored by the surrounding circles: the smaller circles around Circle A caused you to perceive a larger relative size, whereas the larger circles surrounding Circle B caused you to perceive a smaller relative size. This difference in perception is often referred to as perceptual contrast .
    Contrast effects influence our perception not only with arbitrary circles but with many different types of stimuli each day, including our perception of other people’s attractiveness. For example, researchers showed men a picture of a female after the men had watched Charlie’s Angels —a television show from the 1970s with three very attractive females as the main characters. Compared to a control group, men who had been watching Charlie’s Angels rated the female in the picture to be less attractive because the television show created a contrast effect (Kenrick & Gutierres, 1989).
    Like assimilation, contrast effects alter our perception on a daily basis without our awareness. For example, these effects can influence whether you choose to eat an unhealthy meal or an organic fruit salad. To demonstrate, estimate the calorie content in a typical cheeseburger. Keep that exact estimate in the back of your mind because we’ll return to it in a second.
    But now that you understand the difference between assimilation (adjusting toward anchors) and contrast effects (adjusting away from anchors), what determines those directions? When do we adjust toward an anchor, and when do we adjust away from an anchor? One main factor involves the extremity of an anchor. When someone is forming a judgment, an anchor that is very extreme will trigger a contrast effect.
    Do you recall your estimate of the calorie content in a typical cheeseburger? If you were to ask other people that same question, their estimate would likely be lower than yours. Why? Immediately before I asked you to estimate, I subtly mentioned an organic fruit salad.