The effect of partially irrelevant anchors on verbal conceptual thinking

Three groups of 200 Ss each, a total of 600 Ss, were given lists of words to categorize as belonging to specific concepts. Group 1 had no anchoring words in their list; Group 2 had 10 anchoring words not pertinent to the category in question; and Group 3 had 10 anchoring words pertinent to the category in question. Analyses of variance showed significant differences between groups. It is suggested that irrelevant words may operate in two ways, as a generalized “strength of concept” and as “content” anchors.