How Children Reason about Gains and Losses: Framing Effects in Judgement and Choice
Abstract
Three experiments considered how the positive or negative framing of decisions affects children’s EV (expected value) judgements and choices. In Experiment 1, 6- and 9-year-olds chose between a sure gain and a gamble or between a sure loss and a gamble, all with the same EV. Children preferred the sure thing more in the positive than negative frame, as also appears for adults. In Experiment 2, both frames involved potential losses. In their judgements, 6- and 9-year-olds used the normative multiplication rule for integrating risk and amount at risk, with minor frame differences, but when choosing between the same options, they were risk-averse in the save, risk-seeking in the loss frame. In Experiment 3, 5-year-olds used multiplication for saves, with an irregular pattern for losses. Overall, children’s judgements conform closely to normativity. At the same time, children’s choices, like adults’, show non-normative framing effects. This décalage may reflect the involvement of more intuitive processes in judgement than choice.
References
Ahl, V. A. , Moore, C. F. , Dixon, J. A. (1992). Development of intuitive and numerical proportional reasoning. Cognitive Development, 7, 81– 108Anderson, N. H. (1980). Information integration theory in developmental psychology. In F. Wilkening, J. Becker, & T. Trabasso (Eds.), Information integration by children (pp. 1-45). Hillsdale, NJ: ErlbaumAnderson, N. H. (1981). Foundations of information integration theory. New York: AcademicAnderson, N. H. (1982). Methods of information integration theory. New York: AcademicAnderson, N. H. (Ed.) (1991). Contributions to information integration theory. Vols. I-III, Hillsdale, NJ: ErlbaumAnderson, N. H. (1996). A functional theory of cognition. Mahwah, NJ: ErlbaumAnderson, N. H. , Butzin, C. A. (1978). ntegration theory applied to children’s judgements of equity. Developmental Psychology, 14, 593– 606Anderson, N. H. , Cuneo, D. O. (1978). The height + width rule in children’s judgements of quantity. Journal of Experimental Psychology, General, 107, 335– 378Anderson, N. H. , Schlottmann, A. (1991). Developmental study of personal probability. In N. H. Anderson (Ed.), Contributions to information integration theory: Vol. III: Developmental (pp. 111-134). Hillsdale, NJ: ErlbaumBaron, J. (2000). Thinking and deciding. 3rd ed, New York: Cambridge University PressBrainerd, C. J. , Reyna, V. F. (1993). Memory independence and memory interference in cognitive development. Psychological Review, 100(1), 42– 67Brunswik, E. (1956). Perception and the representative design of experiments. Berkeley, CA: University of California PressButzin, C. A. , Anderson, N. H. (1973). unctional measurement of children’s judgements. Child Development, 44, 529– 537Connolly, T. , Zeelenberg, M. (2002). Regret in decision making. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(6), 212– 216Cuneo, D. O. (1982). Children’s judgements of numerical quantity: A new view of early quantification. Cognitive Psychology, 14, 13– 44Dixon, J. A. , Moore, C. F. (1996). The developmental role of intuitive principles in choosing mathematical strategies. Developmental Psychology, 32(2), 241– 253Dixon, J. A. , Moore, C. F. (1997). Characterizing the intuitive representation in problem-solving: Evidence from evaluating mathematical strategies. Memory & Cognition, 25(3), 395– 412Fagley, N. S. (1993). A note concerning reflection effects versus framing effects. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 451– 452Falk, R. , Wilkening, F. (1998). Children’s construction of fair chances: Adjusting probabilities. Developmental Psychology, 34(6), 1340– 1357Feather, N. T. (Ed.) (1982). Expectations and actions: Expectancy-Value models in psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: ErlbaumFischbein, E. (1975). The intuitive sources of probabilistic thinking in children. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: ReidelHaines, B. , Dixon, J. A. , Moore, C. F. (1996). Sources of asynchrony in the development of probability understanding. Unpublished manuscriptHarbaugh, W. T. , Krause, K. , Vesterlund, L. (1999). Are adults better behaved than children? Age, experience, and the endowment effect. Economics Letters, 70(2), 175– 181Hendrick, C. , Franz, C. M. , Hoving, K. L. (1975). How do children form impressions of person? They average. Memory & Cognition, 3(3), 325– 328Inhelder, B. , Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. New York: Basic BooksKahneman, D. , Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica, 47, 263– 291Kahneman, D. , Slovic, P. , Tversky, A. (1982). Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. New York: Cambridge University PressKühberger, A. (1998). The influence of framing on risky decisions: A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 75, 23– 55Kühberger, A. , Schulte-Mecklenbeck, M. , Perner, J. (1999). The effects of framing, reflection, probability, and payoff on risk preference in choice tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 78(3), 204– 231Leon, M. (1982). Rules in children’s moral judgements: Integration of intent, damage and rationale information. Developmental Psychology, 18, 835– 842Levin, I. , Wilkening, F. , Dembo, Y. (1984). Development of time quantification: Integration and non-integration of beginnings and endings in comparing durations. Child Development, 55, 2160– 2172Levin, I. P. , Hart, S. (2003). Risk preferences in young children: Early evidence of individual differences in reaction to potential gains and losses. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 16(5), 397– 413Levin, I. P. , Schneider, S. L. , Gaeth, G. J. (1998). All frames are not created equal: A typology and critical analysis of framing effects. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 76, 149– 188Lichtenstein, S. , Slovic, P. (1971). Reversals of preference between bids and choices in gambling decisions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 89, 46– 55Lopes, L. L. (1987). Between hope and fear: The psychology of risk. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 255– 295Lopes, L. L. , Ekberg, P. S. (1980). Test of an ordering hypothesis in risky decision making. Acta Psychologica, 45, 161– 167Mellers, B. H. , Chang, S. , Birnbaum, M. H. , Ordonez, L. D. (1992). Preferences, prices, and ratings in risky decision-making. (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance). 18, 347– 361Mellers, B. , Schwartz, A. , Ritov, I. (1999). Emotion-based choice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 128(3), 332– 345Moore, C. F. , Dixon, J. A. , Haines, B. A. (1991). Components of understanding in proportional reasoning: A fuzzy set representation of developmental progressions. Child Development, 62, 441– 459Payne, J. W. (1982). Contingent decision behaviour. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 382– 402Piaget, J. , Inhelder, B. (1975). The origin of the idea of chance in children. L. Leake, Jr., P. Burrell, & H. Fischbein, Trans. New York: Norton. (Original work published 1951)Plous, S. (1993). The psychology of judgement and decision making. New York: McGraw-HillQuattrone, G. A. , Tversky, A. (1988). Contrasting rational and psychological analysis of political choice. American Political Science Review, 82, 719– 736Real, L. A. (1991). Animal choice behavior and the evolution of cognitive architecture. Science, 253(5023), 980– 986Reyna, V. F. , Brainerd, C. J. (1991). Fuzzy trace theory and framing effects in choice: Gist extraction, truncation and conversion. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 4, 249– 262Reyna, V. F. , Ellis, S. C. (1994). Fuzzy trace theory and framing effects in children’s risky decision making. Psychological Science, 5, 275– 279Schlottmann, A. (2000). Children’s judgements of gambles: A disordinal violation of additive utility. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 13, 77– 89Schlottmann, A. (2001). Children’s probability intuitions: Understanding the expected value of complex gambles. Child Development, 72(1), 103– 122Schlottmann, A. , Anderson, N. H. (1994). Children’s judgements of expected value. Developmental Psychology, 30(1), 56– 66Schlottmann, A. , Christoforou, M. (2005). Why are young children so good at expected value judgement?. Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development. Atlanta, Georgia, USASchneider, S. L. (1992). Framing and conflict: Aspiration level contingency, the status quo and current theories of risky choice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18(5), 1040– 1057Schneider , S. L. , Lopes, L. L. (1986). Reflection in preferences under risk: Who and when may suggest why. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 12(4), 535– 548Siegler, R. S. (1981). Developmental sequences within and between concepts. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development, 46(2, Serial No. 189),Stanovich, K. E. , West, R. F. (2000). Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate?. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 645– 726Surber, C. F. , Haines, B. A. (1987). The growth of proportional reasoning: Methodological issues. Annals of Child Development, 4, 35– 87Taylor, S. E. (1991). Asymmetrical effects of positive and negative events: The mobilisation-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 67– 85Thaler, R. (1980). Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 1, 39– 60Tversky, A. , Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211, 453– 458vonNeumann, J. , Morgenstern, O. (1944). Theory of games and economic behavior. Princeton, NJ: University PressWilkening, F. (1981). Integrating, velocity, time, and distance information: A developmental study. Cognitive Psychology, 13, 231– 247Wilkening, F. (1988). A misrepresentation of knowledge representation. Developmental Review, 8, 361– 367Wilkening, F. , Anderson, N. H. (1983). Comparison of two rule-assessment methodologies for studying cognitive development and knowledge structure. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 215– 237Wilkening, F. , Anderson, N. H. (1991). Representation and diagnosis of knowledge structures in developmental psychology. In N. H. Anderson (Ed.), Contributions to information integration theory: Vol. III: Developmental (45-80). Hillsdale, NJ: ErlbaumWolf, Y. , Algom, D. (1987). Perceptual constraints and memorial constraints in children’s judgements of quantity: A law of across-representation invariance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 116, 381– 397