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  4. Does Linguistic Ambiguity Explain Risky Choice Framing Effects?: What People Infer About Missing Information, And How Inferences Relate To Numeracy And Framing Bias

Does Linguistic Ambiguity Explain Risky Choice Framing Effects?: What People Infer About Missing Information, And How Inferences Relate To Numeracy And Framing Bias

File(s)
cfc53.pdf (1.85 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/36059
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Chick, Christina
Abstract

Scholars have argued that framing effects are caused by assumptions about unstated information, such as assuming that the sure option is lower-bounded (e.g., assuming "at least" 200 will be saved; Mandel, 2013). We disambiguated missing information before presenting framing problems with either the traditional risky option (e.g., 1/3 chance 600 saved and 2/3 chance none saved) or a truncated risky option (e.g., 1/3 chance 600 saved). A manipulation check indicated that, following presentation of detailed instructions with worked examples, over 90% of subjects correctly interpreted missing information while completing framing problems. Contrary to the ambiguity hypothesis, subjects who did not mentally add "at least" to the sure option nonetheless showed a robust framing bias. Among the few subjects who showed ambiguity effects, framing and truncation effects still replicated. Although adding words can change interpretations of framing information, this manipulation does not account for the core mechanism of framing bias.

Date Issued
2014-01-27
Keywords
Framing effect
•
Ambiguity
•
Risky decision making
Committee Chair
Reyna, Valerie
Committee Member
Zayas, Vivian
Brainerd, Charles
Degree Discipline
Developmental Psychology
Degree Name
M.A., Developmental Psychology
Degree Level
Master of Arts
Type
dissertation or thesis

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