A series of synthetic, steady‐state vowels varying perceptually from [i] to [I]was used in both identification and discrimination tasks under two conditions. In the control identification condition, each stimulus occurred equally often. Similarly, in the control ABX discrimination condition, each 1‐step ABX trail occurred equally often. in the identification anchor condition, one of the endpoint stimuli occurred more often then the other stimuli. A similar change was made in the ABX anchor condition. In the identification anchor conditions, the category boundary between [i] and [I]shifted toward the more frequently occurring endpoint (anchor), relative to the equiprobable control. The peak ABX discrimination also shifted with anchoring toward the more frequently occurring stimulus (anchor). This change in discrimination performance rules out a response bias interpretation of the anchoring effect in identification. Rather, perceptual factors involving auditory memory or the reevaluation of vowel prototypes may be involved in the anchoring effects and recently reported selective adaptation effects for steady‐state vowels. [Research supported by SUNY Research Foundation and University Funds grants.]