At what age does the anchoring heuristic emerge? Evidence from Jeopardy!

Michael Jetter and Jay K. Walker

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2020, vol. 179, issue C, 757-766

Abstract: Accessing data from the US game show Jeopardy!, we investigate the anchoring phenomenon among kids (aged 10–12 years; 182 observations), teenagers (aged 13–17 years; 606 observations), and undergraduate college students (559 observations). We focus on Daily Double clues where a contestant can wager on their correct response immediately after an initial clue value has been made salient (e.g., “I choose [the clue category] World Capitals for $600!”). Crucially, the show’s rules and identifiable strategies provide no rational reason why the initial clue value should serve as an anchor for the subsequent wager. Our results produce no statistically discernible evidence consistent with anchoring in kids and teenagers once we account for contestants’ scores as an important determinant of wagers. However, college students appear to anchor their wager strongly on the initial clue value. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that anchoring emerges in adults, but is not present among teenagers or children. Nevertheless, we advise caution in interpreting our results pertaining to kids since sample sizes are smaller and therefore estimates become less precise in statistical terms.

Keywords: Anchoring; Heuristics; High stakes; Time pressure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D90 D91 G41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:179:y:2020:i:c:p:757-766

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.08.017

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