ERIC Number: EJ1090058
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Feb
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Toolbox or Adjustable Spanner? A Critical Comparison of Two Metaphors for Adaptive Decision Making
Söllner, Anke; Bröder, Arndt
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v42 n2 p215-237 Feb 2016
For multiattribute decision tasks, different metaphors exist that describe the process of decision making and its adaptation to diverse problems and situations. Multiple strategy models (MSMs) assume that decision makers choose adaptively from a set of different strategies (toolbox metaphor), whereas evidence accumulation models (EAMs) hold that a uniform mechanism is employed but is adapted to the environmental change (adjustable spanner metaphor). Despite recent claims that the frameworks are hard to disentangle empirically, both metaphors make distinct predictions concerning the information acquisition behavior, namely, that search is terminated according to the selected strategy (MSMs) or that information is acquired until an evidence threshold is passed (EAMs). In 3 experiments, we contrasted these predictions by providing participants with different degrees of evidence in a half-open/half-closed information board. For the majority of participants, we find that their stopping behavior is well captured by the notion of an evidence threshold that is either undercut or passed by the given evidence.
Descriptors: Decision Making, Models, Figurative Language, Access to Information, Search Strategies, Evidence, Information Dissemination, Cues, College Students, Classification, Hypothesis Testing, Behavior, Experimental Psychology, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A