Framing Effect

Technical Manual

Script Author: Sean Draine, Ph.D. (seandr@millisecond.com)

Last Modified: January 04, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

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.

References

Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1981). "The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice". Science 211 (4481): 453-458.

Duration

3 minutes

Description

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.

Procedure

Payoff Scenarios:
- 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

Summary Data

File Name: framing_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
earnings Stores the total amount of money earned across trials
propHighOddsLowPayOffChoices The proportion of "lower odds/higher pay-off" choices

Raw Data

File Name: framing_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
blockcode The name the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
blocknum The number of the current block (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialcode The name of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialnum The number of the currently recorded trial (built-in Inquisit variable)
trialnum is a built-in Inquisit variable; it counts all trials run
even those that do not store data to the data file.
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
countHigherOddsLowerPayOff 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