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FRAMING HEURISTIC
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Script Author: Sean Draine, Ph.D. (seandr@millisecond.com)
last updated: 02-22-2022 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Script Copyright © 02-22-2022 Millisecond Software
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BACKGROUND INFO
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This script implements a procedure to study the Framing Heuristic; a cognitive bias in decision making that
results from the semantics ('framing') of the given choices.
Reference:
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1981). "The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice".
Science 211 (4481): 453-458.
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TASK DESCRIPTION
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Participants are presented scenarios such as "A) 10% chance of $90" or "B) 90% chance of $10"
and are asked to select the option that they prefer.
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DURATION
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the default set-up of the script takes appr. 3 minutes to complete
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DATA FILE INFORMATION
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The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'framing_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
build: The specific Inquisit version used (the 'build') that was run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
date, time: date and time script was run
subject, group, with the current subject/groupnumber
session: with the current session id
blockcode, blocknum: the name and number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialcode, trialnum: the name and number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
Note: trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run; even those
that do not store data to the data file such as feedback trials. Thus, trialnum
may not reflect the number of main trials run per block.
stimulusitem.1: the presented question
response: the participant's response
responseCategory: selected response category: "high odds/low pay-off" vs. "low odds/high pay-off"
latency: the response latency (in ms); measured from: onset of question
count_higherOddsLowerPayOff: tracks the number of "higherOdds/lower pay-off" choices
oddsa: stores the probabilities for choice A
payoffa: store the amount of money that could be won for choice A
oddsb: stores the probabilities for choice B (probability of B = 1-probability of A)
payoffb: store the amount of money that could be won for choice B
selectedoption: stores the current choice of the participant (A or B)
outcome: stores the actual win amount for the current trial
earnings: stores the total amount of money earned across trials
(2) Summary data file: 'framing_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
inquisit.version: Inquisit version run
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on (win/mac/ios/android)
startdate: date script was run
starttime: time script was started
subjectid: assigned subject id number
groupid: assigned group id number
sessionid: assigned session id number
elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms); measured from onset to offset of script
completed: 0 = script was not completed (prematurely aborted);
1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
earnings: stores the total amount of money earned across trials
prop_highOdds_lowPayOff_choices: the proportion of "lower odds/higher pay-off" choices
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EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
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- 8 different payoff scenarios:
8 odds for A (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%); 8 odds for B (90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%)
coupled with reversed payoffs: e.g. 10% A, payoff: 90
- 3 repetitions of each scenario
(one for practice)
- order is randomly determined
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EDITABLE CODE
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check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code
to further customize your experiment.
