Anchoring in sequential judgments

•We explore the boundary conditions of anchoring across various experimental paradigms.•The scale distortion theory predicts the presence and absence of anchoring effects.•Anchoring effects typically require judgments to share the same response scale.•Conceptual relevance may determine whether numbers are compared.•The presence of multiple anchors can cause more anchoring.

Building on the scale distortion theory (Frederick & Mochon, 2012), we explore the boundary conditions of anchoring outside of the standard paradigm. We argue that the conditions needed for anchoring effects are much more restrictive than those suggested by some theories, but much less restrictive than those suggested by others. Our findings illuminate both the scope and limits of this well-known effect and provide a framework for predicting its occurrence in novel settings.