Determinants of perceived choice, number of options, and perceived time in making a selection

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of number of choice options and perceived time taken to make a selection upon perceived choice. College students were asked to make a selection from a set of options which varied in numerosity; after making their selection, they were given information which varied their perception of time in making the selection. As predicted, perceived choice was found to be greater (1) the greater the number of options when a person perceived that he had taken a relatively short time; (2) if the selection involved a moderately large number of options than if it involved either a small or a very large number when a person perceived that he had taken a relatively long time; (3) the longer the time a person thought he had taken, except when the selection involved a very large number of options-in which case, perceived choice was greater the shorter the perceived time. The experiment also provided evidence about the relationship between perceived choice and perceived competence.