anchoring and adjustment heuristic

The anchoring and adjustment heuristic is a cognitive bias where people rely too heavily on an initial anchor or focus point and make decisions that are influenced by that anchor, adjusting their estimation from the anchor rather than from a neutral point. This occurs even when the anchor is completely unrelated to the problem or decision at hand. People often overestimate how much the anchor has influenced their decision and fail to consider alternative perspectives or solutions. Anchoring and adjustment heuristics can lead to cognitive errors, as people become too attached to their initial assumptions and fail to consider outside evidence.