Final answer:
The student's question revolves around the psychological concept of 'anchoring,' which describes how supplied random numbers can influence subsequent numerical estimations despite being arbitrary.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept described in the student's question is known as 'anchoring' in psychology. Anchoring is a cognitive bias where an individual's decisions or estimates are influenced by a particular reference point or 'anchor.' When a person is presented with a random number and then asked to estimate a value concerning a question, their response is often swayed to be closer to the random number initially supplied, even if that number is arbitrary or unrelated to the question at hand.
The anchoring effect can apply across various situations such as guessing the price of an item, estimating the amount of time needed for a task, or judging distances. This effect highlights how the human mind relies on available information, even when it's not relevant, to make estimations or decisions.In psychology, this phenomenon is known as anchoring bias or the anchoring effect. When people are given a random number or piece of information as a reference point, they tend to use that as a basis for their subsequent estimates or judgments.For example, let's say you ask a group of people to estimate the population of a particular city, but before they make their estimates, you provide each person with a randomly generated number (e.g., 10,000). The closer the random number is to the actual population, the more likely individuals' estimates will be influenced by that number.This bias can occur in various areas of life, including financial decision-making, negotiation, and even simple everyday tasks where estimates or judgments are required.