For questions regarding the cognitive processes which result in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios.
9
votes
2answers
119 views
Do people estimate combined probabilities differently to uncombined ones?
Suppose, somebody has to estimate the likelihood of one of the following events (or has to estimate which event is more likely):
A coin is tossed six times and each time the result is heads. ...
11
votes
1answer
76 views
How does displaying existing votes to a poll influence subsequent voting behaviour?
Some polls involve a question where the existing votes received for each response option are displayed. I have heard that on such polls the existing votes influence the answers provided by subsequent ...
4
votes
1answer
55 views
What was the experiment where a person is given something and then has to share it with another person
Bob is given a bar of chocolate by the experimenter. Then he is to propose how he will share the chocolate with Emilly. If Emilly agrees with Bob's proposal, the kids will each get their share. If ...
2
votes
1answer
52 views
Which branch of psychology deals with decision making under stress?
Our decisions are usually based on a system of perspectives, which in turn are based on one's own set of values. However there are traumatizing situations where this system of perspectives is turned ...
4
votes
1answer
71 views
Why do people feel the need to make changes to a solution presented by another person?
There is an interesting phenomenon I have come across several times when working with groups, and that is the need some people have to make changes to a solution that someone else created.
The ...
3
votes
0answers
39 views
Test-retest reliability of Iowa gambling task performance and Expectancy Valence Model parameters
I've just been learning about the Expectancy Valence Model of the Iowa Gambling Task (see Busemeyer & Stout, 2002; Yechiam et al 2005). The model includes three parameters: motivation, ...
2
votes
3answers
125 views
What is the mechanism behind “gut feelings”?
I'm thinking of a phenomenon that I've first observed in myself when taking an IQ test. Upon looking at the question, I selected an answer, but got this "gut feeling" or a hint that something was ...
6
votes
1answer
111 views
How people choose at random
This question is inspired by one asked at MathOverflow. (These questions at Cognitive Sciences and at Cross Validated might also be relevant.)
Are there any studies on what choices humans ...
1
vote
3answers
190 views
Why do drivers not slow down when they see signs indicating road work?
I found the following anecdote on Quora
Many years ago, I worked for a gas & electric power company, and had
been a member of a crew installing a road-side gas main. Despite the
signs, ...
4
votes
1answer
83 views
How does the brain know what to crave?
I remember that at some point on House, M.D., one of the characters mentioned that her patient craved milk because it contained some chemical he/she needed. How does the brain figure out what ...
3
votes
0answers
62 views
Psychopaths' Response to Expected Losses?
It has been observed that psychopaths will accept positive expected values past some sort of notion of risk aversion by non-psychopaths.
Are there any observations of psychopaths' responses to ...
2
votes
0answers
63 views
Kelly Criterion Observed to Be Adhered by Psychopaths?
As this study shows, psychopaths will take advantage of a positive expected value gamble (is there one to counterfact this showing that they'll also accept negative expected value gambles?) regardless ...
10
votes
3answers
164 views
Is there a random walk theory that can account for situations with more than two choices?
In the article "Two-stage Dynamic Signal Detection: A Theory of Choice, Decision Time, and Confidence" from 2010 by Pleskac and Busemeyer, a random walk model is presented for situations where a ...
6
votes
1answer
84 views
When faced with a choice and trying to make a quick decision, are 2 options better than 3 or more options?
Bastardi & Shafir (1998) show how too much data disabilitates your decision making. There is also the popular Paradox Of Choice argument.
However, I can't find a reference stating that, when ...
2
votes
0answers
68 views
Is Decision Making/Theory/Analysis applicable to game design?
I've done research over the last year in game design by reading some of the most well-known books in the field. Making interesting decisions is one of the fundamental elements of fun in games. I'm ...
4
votes
1answer
185 views
Why do people regret actions they didn't take when looking back on their lives?
Is it true that individuals often regret recent actions (i.e., last few months) but when they look back on their lives, they tend to regret things that they have not done (or lack of actions) ?
If ...
11
votes
2answers
453 views
What tasks does Bayesian decision-making model poorly?
Bayesianism has been a relatively successful paradigm for modeling decision-making. However, not every psychologist is a bayesian, and there are tasks such as the Tversky & Shafir (1992) ...
5
votes
0answers
94 views
Online datasets for the disjunction effect and violations of the sure-thing principle
The disjunction effect (or violation of the sure-thing principle) is as follows:
A disjunction effect occurs when people prefer x over y when they know that event A obtains, and they also ...
8
votes
1answer
107 views
Problem understanding the calculation of normative (Bayesian) base rates
I am having trouble understanding Table 1 of Gigerenzer, Hell, and Blank (1988, PDF, table on page 516):
Focusing on the Jack row, it is stated that the mean probabilities of Jack being an engineer ...
12
votes
2answers
567 views
What are popular rationalist responses to Tversky & Shafir?
In the early 90s Tversky & Shafir observed several violations of rationality in human participants, in particular violation of the disjunction effect and sure-thing principle. This has lead to ...
7
votes
1answer
86 views
Who first used the term 'heuristic' in a cognitive science context?
I seem to recall that Herbert Simon borrowed the term from computer science, but I cannot remember the initial paper in which he made use of this borrowing.
A google scholar search reveals some ...
7
votes
1answer
93 views
A study about preference for making relatively vs. absolute more money?
I remember reading about a study. I forgot the actual details of it, but the gist of it was: people were asked in what situation they would prefer to live, one where they make \$100,000 dollars and ...
6
votes
2answers
99 views
How to computationally model the Wisconsin Card Sorting task? [closed]
The Wisconsin Card Sorting task is rather famous but appears to be quite difficult to model computationally.
To respond to @Artem's question, I work in RL and I am interested in how people learn the ...
10
votes
1answer
108 views
What constructs help explain limited cognitive processing and the cognitive effects of rules that limit decision making choices?
Supposed that I'm a married man, and my wife asks me to pick out a paint color for our new house. It's not terribly mentally taxing. However, my wife starts to add rules. The color can't be too ...
8
votes
2answers
97 views
What cognitive strategies diminish bias in decision-making beyond those outlined by Larrick?
Larrick (2004; pdf) offers a small number of suggestions for strategies to diminish bias in decision making, which he breaks down into four categories.
"Consider the opposite". Tell decision-makers ...
6
votes
1answer
152 views
Appropriate metric(s) for quantifying the accuracy gain obtained from averaging dyads of estimates instead of adopting individual estimates?
Background
The question relates to research I am doing into the Wisdom of Crowds effect (Galton, 1907; Page, 2007; Surowiecki, 2004), in which an average of the estimates made by individuals proves ...
17
votes
2answers
279 views
Performance of a group solving a cognitive task: How does it scale?
Some intellectual, cognitive and perceptual tasks can be solved collaboratively. It is common knowledge that group performance is better than that of each single individual due to exchange of ...
10
votes
2answers
199 views
What is the term for human beings' tendency to obey without thinking?
I'm wanting to read more about a certain human behavior, but I am not sure what the proper term for it is, so some of the things I am finding aren't what I am looking for. I'm interested in how Humans ...
7
votes
0answers
90 views
Bias towards purchasing tangible vs virtual goods
People have very little hesitation in spending $3 on a coffee once a week, but when it comes to buying things online, such as virtual goods or services, they are often much more reluctant. There is a ...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
What is the term for judging based on a simulation of the same parameters on oneself
Allow me to outline the observed process and three hypothetical examples below. For the sake of keeping the samples simple, I will ignore prior moral or religious convictions that a regular person ...
11
votes
2answers
434 views
Game-theory strategies to overcome holdout problem?
The hold-out problem often occurs in debt-restructuring or in urban development.
The hold-out problem is defined where an agent, for example a land developer, must negotiate with many lot owners and ...
4
votes
1answer
169 views
Is Decision-Making Emotionally Based, with Rationalization as the only Conscious Component?
My interest is in how problem-solving decisions are made, and what, if any skills could be taught to increase people's ability to make effective decisions? Effective, in this case, means that an ...
7
votes
1answer
200 views
What are the characteristics that make complex problem solving complex?
In real-world problem-solving tasks that many people call "complex" (like flying a jet, programming, fixing a car, fighting a fire - the type investigated by the naturalistic decision making ...
7
votes
2answers
230 views
Behaviorist interpretations of decision field theory
Decision field theory is usually presented as a dynamic cognitive model of decision making. However, in its basic form, the theory seems to only be concerned with behavior (decisions) and stimuli ...
10
votes
2answers
377 views
What is the term for when too many choices results in inability to decide?
A common problem is that when offered too many choices, consumers give up and make no choice. Too many options results in no sale where fewer options might have resulted in more sales. It's like the ...
9
votes
1answer
109 views
When is higher confidence predictive of less accuracy?
Normally, when an individual is more confident in a particular response (e.g., memory decision, general knowledge answer), he or she is also more likely to be accurate. There are also studies in which ...
2
votes
2answers
154 views
Why do some people seem to disregard the choice of doing nothing (The Zero Choice)?
In many areas of life we have a choice between multiple options: if we are hungry and we want to go out to eat, we have a number of places to choose from (McDonalds, etc). However, we also still have ...
5
votes
0answers
79 views
What processes underly confidence ratings in cognitive decision-making?
Many experiments in cognitive psychology and other domains ask for confidence ratings (e.g., on a 0-100 scale, 100 meaning "I'm sure I experienced this stimulus"). What accounts describe how these ...
