Citation

Huber O, Huber OW. Acta Psychol. 2008; 127(2): 222-236.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Route de Faucigny 2, CH-1701 Fribourg, Switzerland. oswald.huber@unifr.ch

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.05.002

PMID

17603987

Abstract

The paper investigates predecisional information search in risky decisions, specifically information concerning the probability of a negative outcome and whether a risk-defusing operator (RDO) is available. Experiment 1 (54 participants) tested the hypothesis that search for such information is triggered by expectations that it can be obtained in the situation. Cues for the availability of information were manipulated. It was predicted that cues mentioning possible information sources raise expectations and consequently increase search activity. Furthermore, gambles were expected to differ from other real world contexts, with lower expectations for RDOs and higher ones for probabilities. The Method of Active Information Search was employed. The number of questions asked about probability and RDOs in different conditions confirmed the hypotheses. Experiment 2 (36 participants) ruled out the alternative interpretation that the expectation to actually find favorable probabilities or applicable RDOs respectively, rather than the expectation to obtain information, determined information search.

Language: en