1. the tendency for particular behaviors to be stimulated by a particular environment or situation, even when inappropriate, such as gesturing when using the telephone or applauding a poor speech. 2. the tendency for an individual’s thinking on a question to be affected illogically by an impression made by the terms in which the question is stated, as when positively worded premises in a syllogism increase the perceived validity of a false but positively worded conclusion. Also called framing effect. See also anchoring bias.