Does Decision Quality (Always) Increase With the Size of Information Samples? Some Vicissitudes in Applying the Law of Large Numbers.

Adaptive decision making requires that contingencies between decision options and their relative assets be assessed accurately and quickly. The present research addresses the challenging notion that contingencies may be more visible from small than from large samples of observations. An algorithmic...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 883 - 904
Autores principales: Fiedler, Klaus, Kareev, Yaakov
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Psychological Association July 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=507898014&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 507898014
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        02787393
        EXL
      jtl: Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition
      issn: 02787393
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: July 2006
      vid: 32
      iid: 4
      pid: 34
      pub: American Psychological Association
    artinfo:
      ui:
        507898014
        10.1037/0278-7393.32.4.883
      ppf: 883
      ppct: 21
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Does Decision Quality (Always) Increase With the Size of Information Samples? Some Vicissitudes in Applying the Law of Large Numbers.
      aug:
        au:
          Fiedler, Klaus
          Kareev, Yaakov
      su:
        Choice (Psychology)
        Statistical sampling
      sug:
        subj:
          Choice (Psychology)
          Statistical sampling
      ab: Adaptive decision making requires that contingencies between decision options and their relative assets be assessed accurately and quickly. The present research addresses the challenging notion that contingencies may be more visible from small than from large samples of observations. An algorithmic account for such a seemingly paradoxical effect is offered within a satisficing-choice framework. Accordingly, a choice is only made when the sample contingency describing the relative evaluation of the 2 options exceeds a critical threshold. Small samples, because of the high dispersion of their sampling distribution, facilitate above-threshold contingencies. Across a broad range of parameters, the resulting small-sample advantage in terms of hits is stronger than their disadvantage in false alarms. Computer simulations and experiments support the model predictions. The relative advantage of small samples is most apparent when information loss is low, when the threshold is high relative to the ecological contingency, and when the sampling process is self-truncated. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N