Choice--AKA Psych "Stuff" Part 2

[Mavric]

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

A lot of you have picked up on the fact that both questions are basically asking the same question: would you rather take a for sure gain/loss or chance losing everyone for the opportunity to save everyone?

There's an obvious key difference between both questions; question 1 asked about gains (Treatment A saves 250 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance to save everyone or a 3/4 chance of saving nobody), whereas question 2 asked about losses (Treatment A doesn't save 750 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance of losing everybody or a 3/4 chance of losing nobody). Furthermore, both treatments are roughly the same (1/4(1000) = 250; 3/4(1000) = 750)). The only difference is that Treatments A and C are for sure options, whereas Treatments B and D are riskier options.

The idea here is that, if the two questions are the same, shouldn't the responses to each also be the same? Reasoning would lead us to that answer, but reasoning would be incorrect. People don't respond the same to these two treatments. Why the answers aren't the same illustrates both the effect that certain framing of a question (or just about anything) has on our decisions as well as our tendency to be risk averse. For the first question, more people (I'm not talking about our poll, I'm talking about overall) chose Treatment A over Treatment B. Because we are dealing with gains, and because we are risk averse, we take the safer option because we could at least live with ourselves knowing we saved 250 people. But when we're dealing with losses, we are much more risky. In the second question, 750 people are already lost, so what is another 250 more? Or, what if I could save all 1,000 people? In this case, more people chose Treatment D over Treatment C.

Even though the results are the same, the responses are different from the same people, and the responses are different because of the way the question is framed. And the way a question is framed can have a profound effect on the decisions we make in our everyday lives, and it is certainly the case that we are more often unaware of these effects than we are aware of them.

 

[JJ Husker]

When you're done messing around in my medulla oblongata, you're going to have to put things back where you found them.

Actually I realized the questions where presented slightly differently but, once I could see the choice results were the same, I chose B & D respectively. Now that you mention it though, it did seem quicker and easier to choose D than it was to choose B the first time around. I thought it was because mathematically it was the same but it could've been subtly influenced by the framing as well.

 

[MLB 51]

A lot of you have picked up on the fact that both questions are basically asking the same question: would you rather take a for sure gain/loss or chance losing everyone for the opportunity to save everyone?

There's an obvious key difference between both questions; question 1 asked about gains (Treatment A saves 250 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance to save everyone or a 3/4 chance of saving nobody), whereas question 2 asked about losses (Treatment A doesn't save 750 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance of losing everybody or a 3/4 chance of losing nobody). Furthermore, both treatments are roughly the same (1/4(1000) = 250; 3/4(1000) = 750)). The only difference is that Treatments A and C are for sure options, whereas Treatments B and D are riskier options.

The idea here is that, if the two questions are the same, shouldn't the responses to each also be the same? Reasoning would lead us to that answer, but reasoning would be incorrect. People don't respond the same to these two treatments. Why the answers aren't the same illustrates both the effect that certain framing of a question (or just about anything) has on our decisions as well as our tendency to be risk averse. For the first question, more people (I'm not talking about our poll, I'm talking about overall) chose Treatment A over Treatment B. Because we are dealing with gains, and because we are risk averse, we take the safer option because we could at least live with ourselves knowing we saved 250 people. But when we're dealing with losses, we are much more risky. In the second question, 750 people are already lost, so what is another 250 more? Or, what if I could save all 1,000 people? In this case, more people chose Treatment D over Treatment C.

Even though the results are the same, the responses are different from the same people, and the responses are different because of the way the question is framed. And the way a question is framed can have a profound effect on the decisions we make in our everyday lives, and it is certainly the case that we are more often unaware of these effects than we are aware of them.

It was easy to see the questions were very similar. I chose B the first time and D without hesitation the second time.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

A lot of you have picked up on the fact that both questions are basically asking the same question: would you rather take a for sure gain/loss or chance losing everyone for the opportunity to save everyone?

There's an obvious key difference between both questions; question 1 asked about gains (Treatment A saves 250 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance to save everyone or a 3/4 chance of saving nobody), whereas question 2 asked about losses (Treatment A doesn't save 750 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance of losing everybody or a 3/4 chance of losing nobody). Furthermore, both treatments are roughly the same (1/4(1000) = 250; 3/4(1000) = 750)). The only difference is that Treatments A and C are for sure options, whereas Treatments B and D are riskier options.

The idea here is that, if the two questions are the same, shouldn't the responses to each also be the same? Reasoning would lead us to that answer, but reasoning would be incorrect. People don't respond the same to these two treatments. Why the answers aren't the same illustrates both the effect that certain framing of a question (or just about anything) has on our decisions as well as our tendency to be risk averse. For the first question, more people (I'm not talking about our poll, I'm talking about overall) chose Treatment A over Treatment B. Because we are dealing with gains, and because we are risk averse, we take the safer option because we could at least live with ourselves knowing we saved 250 people. But when we're dealing with losses, we are much more risky. In the second question, 750 people are already lost, so what is another 250 more? Or, what if I could save all 1,000 people? In this case, more people chose Treatment D over Treatment C.

Even though the results are the same, the responses are different from the same people, and the responses are different because of the way the question is framed. And the way a question is framed can have a profound effect on the decisions we make in our everyday lives, and it is certainly the case that we are more often unaware of these effects than we are aware of them.

It was easy to see the questions were very similar. I chose B the first time and D without hesitation the second time.

Then you're just less risk averse than most people.

 

[StPaulHusker]

When I looked at these I decided that I would try to save everyone even at the smaller chance. I figured if everyone died, there would be no one to get mad at me so what the hell.

 

[MLB 51]

A lot of you have picked up on the fact that both questions are basically asking the same question: would you rather take a for sure gain/loss or chance losing everyone for the opportunity to save everyone?

There's an obvious key difference between both questions; question 1 asked about gains (Treatment A saves 250 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance to save everyone or a 3/4 chance of saving nobody), whereas question 2 asked about losses (Treatment A doesn't save 750 people, Treatment B comes with a 1/4 chance of losing everybody or a 3/4 chance of losing nobody). Furthermore, both treatments are roughly the same (1/4(1000) = 250; 3/4(1000) = 750)). The only difference is that Treatments A and C are for sure options, whereas Treatments B and D are riskier options.

The idea here is that, if the two questions are the same, shouldn't the responses to each also be the same? Reasoning would lead us to that answer, but reasoning would be incorrect. People don't respond the same to these two treatments. Why the answers aren't the same illustrates both the effect that certain framing of a question (or just about anything) has on our decisions as well as our tendency to be risk averse. For the first question, more people (I'm not talking about our poll, I'm talking about overall) chose Treatment A over Treatment B. Because we are dealing with gains, and because we are risk averse, we take the safer option because we could at least live with ourselves knowing we saved 250 people. But when we're dealing with losses, we are much more risky. In the second question, 750 people are already lost, so what is another 250 more? Or, what if I could save all 1,000 people? In this case, more people chose Treatment D over Treatment C.

Even though the results are the same, the responses are different from the same people, and the responses are different because of the way the question is framed. And the way a question is framed can have a profound effect on the decisions we make in our everyday lives, and it is certainly the case that we are more often unaware of these effects than we are aware of them.

It was easy to see the questions were very similar. I chose B the first time and D without hesitation the second time.

Then you're just less risk averse than most people.

Thank You.

 

[zoogs]

BBXII, you're going to have to explain to me how these questions are in any way different:

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment A, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment B, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment C, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment D, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

I must have missed something.

 

[JJ Husker]

BBXII, you're going to have to explain to me how these questions are in any way different:

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment A, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment B, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment C, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment D, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

I must have missed something.

They are exactly the same now. I could've swore at some point the first one was presented as 250 will survive rather than 750 will die. No difference to me but still framed slightly differently.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

BBXII, you're going to have to explain to me how these questions are in any way different:

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment A, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment B, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

You are a physician working in an African village, and 1,000 people have come down with a life-threatening disease. Two possible treatments exist. If you choose treatment C, exactly 750 people will die. If you choose treatment D, there is a 1/4 chance that nobody will die, and a 3/4 chance that everyone will die. Which treatment do you choose?

I must have missed something.

They are exactly the same now. I could've swore at some point the first one was presented as 250 will survive rather than 750 will die. No difference to me but still framed slightly differently.

They were. What I wanted was to have just one post where the poll could reset each time. I forgot that it wouldn't after I edited the question in the first post. They were different at the time the poll closed. Sorry for the confusion.