Dissertation
Attraction effects in decision making with multiple decoys under hot and cold cognitive loads
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006060
Abstract
The current study examines attraction effects, in which the addition of an asymmetrically dominated decoy can reverse preferences in decision making tasks requiring tradeoffs. Two experiments extend previous research by examining the influence of asymmetrically dominated decoys under different cognitive loads. These experiments also introduce a multiple-decoy decision making task design allowing for within-subject examination of preference reversals (and cognitive load) in a single task. The first experiment investigated rate of preference reversals under "cold" cognitive loads, requiring participants to hold random strings of letters active in memory while making preference decisions. The second experiment is an exploratory look at the role of emotional information in attraction effects by manipulating the affective nature of information held active in memory ("hot" cognitive loads). Attraction preference reversals were demonstrated in the multiple-decoy, within-subjects decision task, which shows that decoys can change preference for options even after preference decisions have previously been made, but load manipulations did not impact rates of attraction reversals in either experiment. Implications for dual process model explanations of attraction effects are discussed.
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Details
- Title
- Attraction effects in decision making with multiple decoys under hot and cold cognitive loads
- Creators
- Allison Lucile Matthews
- Contributors
- Paul Michael Whitney (Chair)John M Hinson (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of PsychologyCraig David Parks (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Office of the Provost
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 55
- Identifiers
- 99901055126901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation