The Anchoring Effect: B2 English Lesson
This B2 English lesson on the anchoring effect explores why the first number you see can shape the judgment you make next. Practice modals of deduction such as must be, can’t be, and might be, and build vocabulary for estimates, reference points, and decision-making.
Vocabulary
KEY WORDS
estimate (noun)
A rough guess about a number, amount, or value.
The builder gave us an estimate of three weeks for the repairs.
Synonyms: approximation, rough guess
initial (adjective)
Existing or happening at the beginning, before later changes or reactions.
My initial reaction was surprise, but I soon calmed down.
Synonyms: first, opening
reference (noun)
A point or value used for comparison when judging something.
Keep last year’s report as a reference while you write this one.
Synonyms: benchmark, standard
to adjust (verb)
To change something slightly to make it more correct or suitable.
Please adjust the volume; the music is a little too loud.
Synonyms: to modify, to fine-tune
to sway (verb)
To influence or change someone’s opinion or decision.
A friendly review can sway a customer who is still unsure.
Synonyms: to influence, to persuade
benchmark (noun)
A standard or level used to measure or compare other things.
Their fastest runner set the benchmark for the whole team.
Synonyms: yardstick, standard
arbitrary (adjective)
Based on random choice rather than reason or a real cause.
The seating order felt arbitrary, as if names had been drawn from a hat.
Synonyms: random, baseless
IDIOMS
to set the bar (idiom)
To establish the standard that others are measured against.
Her excellent concert set the bar for the rest of the festival.
Synonyms: to establish a standard, to set a benchmark
a ballpark figure (idiom)
A rough estimate that is close enough but not exact.
I can’t give you the exact cost, but a ballpark figure is around two thousand dollars.
Synonyms: a rough estimate, an approximation
READ · LISTEN · NOTICE
The Anchoring Effect
Read at your own pace, or play the audio and follow the passage. Listen again without reading for additional practice.
Imagine a salesperson tells you a watch is worth two thousand dollars, then offers it to you for eight hundred. Suddenly, eight hundred feels like a bargain. That first number entered your mind and quietly set the bar for everything that followed. This quiet psychological bias has a name in psychology: the anchoring bias.
What is the anchoring bias?
The anchoring bias is the mind’s habit of leaning too heavily on the first piece of information it receives. The psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman described it in a famous 1974 paper in Science. In one experiment, they spun a wheel of fortune, then asked people to estimate what share of countries in Africa belonged to the United Nations. People who saw a high number gave a much higher estimate than people who saw a low one—even though the wheel was completely random. The first value became an anchor, and every later guess stayed close to it. If a random number sways you that strongly, its influence must be unconscious.
Why we fail to adjust
We do move away from the anchor—we just don’t move far enough. Tversky and Kahneman called this the “anchoring and adjustment” heuristic: the mind starts from the initial number and adjusts toward the right answer, but it stops too early. So a buyer who hears a high price will offer less, yet still far more than the item is worth. The anchor acts like an invisible reference point, and our final number stays tied to it. You might think a random figure can’t be relevant to a careful, rational choice—but the research says otherwise.
How to weaken the anchoring bias
You can’t switch the anchor off, but you can refuse to treat it as truth. In another study, the behavioral economist Dan Ariely showed how powerful arbitrary anchors can be: people who wrote down the last two digits of their ID number offered a far higher price for wine and chocolate when those digits were high. The benchmark they invented from nothing still steered their wallets.
This is especially important to know when shopping. Before you trust a “deal,” remind yourself the original price might be an anchor rather than a fact. The anchor may still influence you, but an estimate based on your own evidence can help you resist it.
GRAMMAR FOCUS
Modals of Deduction
subject + must / can’t / might + be + complement; subject + must / can’t / might + have + past participle
Use modals of deduction when evidence makes you more or less certain that an explanation is true. Use be to judge a situation now, and have + past participle to judge something that already happened.
- Strong certainty with must be / must have
“The pavement is wet and everyone has an umbrella, so it must be raining.”
“The oven is off and the cake is cold; someone must have taken it out earlier.”
- Strong impossibility with can’t be / can’t have
“That can’t be the right key; it is too wide for the lock.”
“She was abroad all week, so she can’t have attended yesterday’s meeting in person.”
- Possibility with might be / might have
“That high starting price might be an anchor designed to sway you.”
“I can’t find my scarf; I might have left it on the bus.”
Discuss the ideas
Work through the discussion questions on your own, or with a teacher or partner.
- A store displays a high original price beside a much lower sale price. What might be the seller’s purpose, and what evidence supports your view?
- Think of a first impression you now believe was wrong. What might have acted as the anchor, and what evidence changed your view?
- A team uses last year’s result as its benchmark for a new project. When might that reference point be useful, and when might it be misleading?
- A restaurant menu lists one dish at a very high price, and most customers order the second-most expensive one. A friend says the expensive dish must be the best. What other explanations might there be, and how would you respond?
- Which habit might be useful for resisting an anchor, and what evidence or experience supports your choice?
What this anchoring effect English lesson developed
In this B2 English lesson on the anchoring effect, you learned how an initial number can establish a reference point, built vocabulary for estimates and judgment, and used modals of deduction to explain what the available evidence must, might, or cannot mean.
Read more: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, whose work with Amos Tversky first demonstrated anchoring and much of the research this lesson draws on.
Next lesson: Continue with The Availability Heuristic to see how easily recalled examples distort your sense of how common something is.
CONTINUE PRACTICING
Continue with the slide collection
Turn this lesson into a class-ready sequence with a warm-up, guided vocabulary practice, dedicated activities for modals of deduction and IELTS Part 3 discussion, reading and listening practice, and brief teacher notes with suggested timing and learning objectives.
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