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Investigating the effect of stimulus range on attribute weight
1Center for Decision Research, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637.
Summary
Decision-making consistency is maintained as attribute weights remain unaffected by stimulus range variations. Judgments are generally independent of irrelevant contextual information, supporting classical economic choice theories.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Classical economic theories posit consistent trade-off decisions.
- Contextual variables can potentially introduce inconsistencies in decision-making.
- The influence of stimulus range on attribute weighting is explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether attribute weights in decision-making are affected by the range of presented stimuli.
- To determine if stimulus range variations influence trade-off consistency.
- To test the conditions under which range information impacts judgments.
Main Methods:
- Six experiments were conducted presenting stimuli across varying ranges.
- Participants made judgments under conditions where range provided no, potential, or certain information about stimulus value.
- Attribute weighting and decision consistency were assessed.
Main Results:
- In most experiments (1-5), participants' judgments were not influenced by the range of stimuli presented.
- An exception occurred in Experiment 6, involving novel stimuli where scale meaning depended on distribution.
- Overall, attribute weights were found to be independent of situational demands.
Conclusions:
- Results support the classical view of decision-making, where attribute weights are stable.
- Participant judgments are generally not swayed by irrelevant contextual stimuli, such as stimulus range.
- Decision consistency holds unless the range explicitly defines the meaning of novel stimuli.