Anchoring does not activate examples associated with the anchor value

In the standard anchoring paradigm, people first compare a selected attribute of a target to a numeric value—an anchor. A subsequent absolute judgment of the target's attribute value is biased in the direction of the anchor. A prominent theory of the anchoring effect, the selective accessibility model, argues that people make the initial comparison by focusing on similarities between the target and the anchor, which activates information compatible with the anchor value being the target value. This activated information biases the subsequent estimate of the target value. To test the selective activation of information, the present study asked people to provide an example of the target's category following its comparison with an anchor. The attribute values of the provided examples were not biased in the direction of the anchor. However, they were positively associated with estimates of the target value. The study thus provides evidence for the use of activated information in the absolute judgment in the standard anchoring paradigm, but it does not show the selective activation of information compatible with the anchor value predicted by the selective accessibility model.

The Influence of Product Anthropomorphism on Comparative Judgment

The present research proposes a new perspective to investigate the effect of product anthropomorphism on consumers’ comparative judgment strategy in comparing two anthropomorphized (vs. two nonanthropomorphized) product options in a consideration set. Six experiments show that anthropomorphism increases consumers’ use of an absolute judgment strategy (vs. a dimension-by-dimension strategy) in comparative judgment, leading to increased preference for the option with a more favorable overall evaluation over the option with a greater number of superior dimensions. The effect is mediated by consumers’ perception of each anthropomorphized product alternative as an integrated entity rather than a bundle of separate attributes. The authors find the effect to be robust by directly tracing the process of participants’ information processing using MouseLab software and eye-tracking techniques, and by self-reported preferences and real consumption choices. Moreover, the effect is moderated by the motivation to seek maximized accuracy or ease. These studies have important implications for theories about anthropomorphism and comparative judgment as well as marketing practice.

Perceptual Anchors and the Dispersion of Nasality Ratings

Objective This investigation studied the effects of perceptual anchors on the dispersion and reliability of listener ratings of nasality. Design Listeners (N = 129) were assigned to one of six listening groups. Each group rated nasality independently for 100 speech samples on a seven-point scale that ranged from 1 = normal nasality to 7 = severe hypernasality. The anchors used were examples of a 1, 3, 4, 5, and/or 7 on the rating scale. These anchors were played selectively to group 2 (4), group 3 (1 and 7), group 4 (3 and 5), group 5 (1, 4, 7), and group 6 (7). Group 1 had no anchor. Participants Of the speakers, 95 were children followed by a craniofacial team and five were children without histories of speech disorders. Main Outcome Measures The outcome measures were 12,900 ratings of nasality on a seven-point scale. Results Q values showed that group 5, which was the only group to receive three anchors, had the lowest, or best, Q value (0.78), and group 1 (no anchor) had the highest, or worst, Q value (0.99). Across groups, the most reliable ratings were those at scale values 1 (Q = 0.46) and 7 (Q = 0.56). The least reliable ratings were at scale values 3 (Q = 1.01), 4 (Q = 1.03), and 5 (Q = 1.06). Conclusions Nasality rating reliability/dispersion was influenced by the presence and location of anchor stimuli. Consistent with absolute judgment theory, nasality ratings showed a strong end effect.

Absolute Judgment of Musical Interval Width

When a musical tone is sounded, most listeners are unable to identify its pitch by name. Those listeners who can identify pitches are said to have absolute pitch perception (AP). A limited subset of musicians possesses AP, and it has been debated whether musicians’ AP interferes with their ability to perceive tonal relationships between pitches, or relative pitch (RP). The present study tested musicians’ discrimination of relative pitch categories, or intervals, by placing absolute pitch values in conflict with relative pitch categories. AP listeners perceived intervals categorically, and their judgments were not affected by absolute pitch values. These results indicate that AP listeners do not infer interval identities from the absolute values between tones, and that RP categories are salient musical concepts in both RP and AP musicianship.

A Novel Device for the Measurement of Functional Finger Pinch Movement Discrimination

Proprioception provides feedback that is vitally important for motor control. A deficiency in joint proprioception is thought to be associated with various upper limb rheumatological disorders. Currently, there is a lack of a portable device that could be used for measuring functional proprioception at the fingertips in the field. Therefore, a novel portable device for measuring pinch movement discrimination between index finger and thumb of either hand was constructed. This device is manually operated and requires the subject to make an absolute judgment of a joint position, choosing which one of five pre-experienced positions is being presented to them, with trials given in a random order. The 5 physical differences used were between 1.22 and 2.42cms. Reliability analysis was performed over a 7-day interval, with 8 healthy young adult volunteers. The discrimination scores, measured as the Area Under the Curve (AUC), for the group showed a mean (SD) of 0.794 (0.544) and 0.794 (0.549) on days 1 and 8, respectively. The day 1 and 8 reliability assessed with the interclass correlation coefficient ICC(3,1) was 0.85. Nondominant hands showed better pinch discrimination on the two days, with AUC values of 0.800 and 0.810 compared with 0.788 and 0.778, but these differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05). No difference in pinch movement discrimination was found between sexes. The ease of use and portability of the novel device for measuring functional proprioception at the fingertips described in this note make it ideal for measuring hand functional proprioception as part of clinical and epidemiological studies. The mid-range AUC discrimination scores found with healthy young adults mean that factors thought to diminish (eg. hand injury) or improve (eg. having expert finger skills) discrimination could be detected with the device.