FIRST IMPRESSIONS CAN DISTORT
Give someone five seconds to estimate the answer to the following math problem: 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = Give someone else five seconds to estimate the answer to this problem: 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 = Although the two sets of numbers are identical, the two answers will be quite different. When researchers gave these two problems to a group of subjects, the average answer guessed for the first problem was 2,250. The average answer given for the second problem was 512. (The correct response is actually 40,320.) Why was the estimate for the first string of numbers more than FOUR times higher than the estimate for the second string? The “first impression” was different in each case. Where you finish depends on where you start. If 8 is the first number we see, we assume a higher result…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
