Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2025
09:45
New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
Published on: January 23, 2017
8.1K
Deliberation during online bargaining reveals strategic information
Miruna Cotet1, Wenjia Joyce Zhao2, Ian Krajbich1,3,4
1Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210.
Summary
Response times (RT) in strategic decisions, like bargaining, reveal private information. Slower decisions on offers indicate their quality, but this information is less useful for rejections, impacting buyer behavior and extending the drift-diffusion model
Area of Science:
- Behavioral economics
- Game theory
- Computational neuroscience
Background:
- Game theory assumes preplanned strategies, but real-world decisions may involve on-the-spot comparisons.
- Response times (RT) in nonstrategic decisions correlate with option similarity, potentially revealing private information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if RT in strategic bargaining reveals private information.
- To test if the drift-diffusion model (DDM) can explain slow, strategic decisions.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of preexisting and experimental bargaining data from eBay.
- Application of a drift-diffusion model (DDM) to decisions occurring over hours and days.
Main Results:
- Both buyers and sellers exhibit longer RTs for less favorable offers/rejections.
- Offer size causally affects RT, but this effect is weaker for rejections than acceptances.
- Buyers are less likely to counteroffer to sellers with slow rejection times.
- Experienced sellers are less cautious and more prone to accepting offers.
Conclusions:
- Strategic decisions are not always preplanned and RT can be a strategic variable.
- The DDM is applicable to slow decisions, expanding its use beyond seconds.
- Incorporating RT into game theory models is necessary for more accurate predictions.
Related Concept Videos
04:49Robbers Cave
14.2K
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension...
14.2K
01:52Persuasion Strategies
38.4K
Researchers have tested many persuasion strategies, including the foot-in-the door and the door-in-the-face techniques, in a variety of contexts. Ultimately, the principles are effective in selling products and changing people’s attitude, ideas, and behaviors (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004).
38.4K
00:52Social Proof
27.4K
Social proof is a form of persuasion based on comparison and conformity. People compare their behavior and actions to what others are doing and will change to conform to do what their peers do.
27.4K
01:25The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic
7.2K
In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. However, sometimes, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the...
7.2K
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
5.2K
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
5.2K
03:26Framing Effects
7.3K
Information is everywhere and its presentation—such as how and when items are presented—can impact our perceptions and decisions surrounding the info. This broad concept umbrellas framing effects—influences that occur due to the way information is framed in its appearance, whether it’s purely the order or the specific wording of a message. Let’s take a look at numerous ways in which two versions of something can objectively say the same thing, yet we respond in...
7.3K