Loss aversion in hotel choice: Psychophysiological evidence

2021 ◽  
pp. 109634802110253
Author(s):  
Robin Chark ◽  
Brian King

The authors investigate the psychophysiological correlates of loss aversion in hotel choice. Consumers are frequently found reluctant to shift their choice to a subsequent option from their first encountered hotel. The concept of loss aversion can explain this ordering effect. However, there is a knowledge gap about how exactly loss aversion leads to such inertia. The present study provides a more direct measurement of this decision process by examining electrodermal activities and reaction times when consumers are making hotel choices. The choice data provides evidence of reluctance to switch to higher quality hotels, though not to lower rated properties. Such a switch is found emotionally arousing as indicated by consumers’ electrodermal activity. The reaction time data further suggests that the swiftness of such decisions to “trade up” is associated with the greater vigilance and attention, rather than a cognitive conflict caused by the difficult tradeoff between the hotels.

GeroPsych ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Rast ◽  
Daniel Zimprich

In order to model within-person (WP) variance in a reaction time task, we applied a mixed location scale model using 335 participants from the second wave of the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging. The age of the respondents and the performance in another reaction time task were used to explain individual differences in the WP variance. To account for larger variances due to slower reaction times, we also used the average of the predicted individual reaction time (RT) as a predictor for the WP variability. Here, the WP variability was a function of the mean. At the same time, older participants were more variable and those with better performance in another RT task were more consistent in their responses.


2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph M. Nelson, Jr.

Catchpole et al. (1998) reported rates of spread for 357 heading and no-wind fires burned in the wind tunnel facility of the USDA Forest Service's Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana for the purpose of developing models of wildland fire behavior. The fires were burned in horizontal fuel beds with differing characteristics due to various combinations of fuel type, particle size, packing ratio, bed depth, moisture content, and wind speed. In the present paper, fuel particle and fuel bed data for 260 heading fires from that study (plus as-yet unreported combustion efficiency and reaction time data) are used to develop models for predicting fuel bed reaction time and mass loss rate. Reaction time is computed from the flameout time of a single particle and fuel bed structural properties. It is assumed that the beds burn in a combustion regime controlled by the rate at which air mixes with volatiles produced during pyrolysis, and that not all air entering the fuel bed reaction zone participates in combustion. Comparison of reaction time and burning rate predictions with experimental values is encouraging in view of the simplified modeling approach and uncertainties associated with the experimental measurements.


1984 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E. Humes ◽  
Jayne B. Ahlstrom

The loudness of one-third octave bands of noise centered at either 1, 2, or 4 kHz was measured in 10 normal-hearing young adults for sound levels of 50–90 dB SPL. Reaction times (RT) in response to these same stimuli were also measured in the same subjects. A moderate-to-strong correspondence was observed between the slopes for functions depicting the growth of loudness with sound level and comparable slopes for the reaction-time data. The correlation between slopes for the RT-intensity function and the loudness-growth function was comparable in magnitude to the test,retest correlation for the loudness-growth function except at 1 kHz.


Author(s):  
John D. Bullough ◽  
Peter R. Boyce ◽  
Andrew Bierman ◽  
Kathryn M. Conway ◽  
Kun Huang ◽  
...  

Simulated light-emitting diode (LED) traffic signals of different luminances were evaluated relative to incandescent signals of the same nominal color and at the luminances required by the specifications of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Measurements were made of the reaction times to onset and the number of missed signals for red, yellow, and green incandescent and LED signals. Measurements also were made of subjects’ ability to correctly identify signal colors and of their subjective brightness and conspicuity ratings. All measurements were made under simulated daytime conditions. There were no significant differences in mean reaction time, percentage of missed signals, color identification, or subjective brightness and conspicuity ratings between simulated incandescent and LED signals of the same nominal color and luminance. Higher luminances were needed for the yellow and green signal colors to ensure that they produced the same reaction time, the same percentage of missed signals, and the same rated brightness and conspicuity as a red signal at a given luminance. Equations fitted to the reaction time data, the missed signals data, and the brightness and conspicuity ratings for the LED signals can be used to make quantitative predictions of the consequences of proposed changes in signal luminance for reaction time, brightness, and conspicuity.


2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
DREW M. THOMAS

SummaryIn the early 1990s, psychologist Richard Lynn published papers documenting average reaction times and decision times in samples of nine-year-olds taken from across the world. After summarizing these data, Lynn interpreted his results as evidence of national and racial differences in decision time and general intelligence. Others have also interpreted Lynn's data as evidence of racial differences in decision time and intelligence. However, comparing Lynn's summaries with his original reports shows that Lynn misreported and omitted some of his own data. Once these errors are fixed the rankings of nations in Lynn's datasets are unstable across different decision time measures. This instability, as well as within-race heterogeneity and between-race overlap in decision times, implies that Lynn's reaction time data do not permit generalizations about the decision times and intelligence of people of different races.


Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 451
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Castro-Palacio ◽  
Pedro Fernández-de-Córdoba ◽  
J. M. Isidro ◽  
Sarira Sahu ◽  
Esperanza Navarro-Pardo

An individual’s reaction time data to visual stimuli have usually been represented in Experimental Psychology by means of an ex-Gaussian function. In most previous works, researchers have mainly aimed at finding a meaning for the parameters of the ex-Gaussian function which are known to correlate with cognitive disorders. Based on the recent evidence of correlations between the reaction time series to visual stimuli produced by different individuals within a group, we go beyond and propose a Physics-inspired model to represent the reaction time data of a coetaneous group of individuals. In doing so, a Maxwell–Boltzmann-like distribution appeared, the same distribution as for the velocities of the molecules in an Ideal Gas model. We describe step by step the methodology we use to go from the individual reaction times to the distribution of the individuals response within the coetaneous group. In practical terms, by means of this model we also provide a simple entropy-based methodology for the classification of the individuals within the collective they belong to with no need for an external reference which can be applicable in diverse areas of social sciences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Hüffmeier ◽  
Stefan Krumm

Skorski, Extebarria, and Thompson (2016) aim at our article on relay swimmers (Hüffmeier, Krumm, Kanthak, & Hertel, 2012). We have shown that professional freestyle swimmers at relay positions 2 to 4 swam faster in the relay than in the individual competition if they had a high chance to win a relay medal. After applying a reaction-time correction that controls for different starting procedures in relay and individual competitions, Skorski et al. (2016) conclude that swimmers in relays do not swim faster. At first sight, their results appear to show this very pattern. However, we argue that the authors’ findings and conclusion—that our finding is a myth—are not warranted. First, we have also controlled for quicker reaction times in the relay competition. Our correction has been based on the swimmers’ own reaction time data rather than on a constant reaction time estimate and is, thus, more precise than theirs. Second, Skorski et al. treat data from international and national competitions equally although national relay competitions are less attractive for the swimmers than national individual competitions. This difference likely biases their data towards slower relay times. Third, the authors select a small and arbitrary sample without explicit power considerations or a clear stopping rule. Fourth, they unfavorably aggregate their data. We conclude that the reported results are most likely due to the methodological choices by Skorski et al. and do not invalidate our findings.


Author(s):  
Robert E. Dewar ◽  
Jerry G. Ells ◽  
Glen Mundy

Verbal reaction times to identify and to classify 20 traffic sign messages were measured under three conditions-sign alone, sign plus visual loading task, and sign plus visual loading task plus visual distraction. Similar trends were found in the three experiments: reaction times were smaller for the classification task than for the identification task, smaller for warning than for regulatory signs, and smaller for verbal than for symbolic messages. Comparison of these reaction time data with on-the-road measures of legibility distance revealed significant correlations. The correlational data add credibility to laboratory measures of reaction times as valid indices of traffic sign perception.


1979 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 518-522
Author(s):  
Russell A. Benel ◽  
Michael G. H. Coles ◽  
Denise C. R. Banel

Electrodermal (galvanic skin) responses conveniently index sympathetic arousal. Indivduals with high levels of resting electrodermal activity are designated “labiles,” while those with low levels, “stabiles.” Labiles appear resistant to performance decrement over time in vigilance tasks. Thus, increased electrodermal responsivity may represent enhanced attentional capacity during such tasks. The responses of 10 labiles and 10 stabiles were collected during a simple reaction time task and under single and dual task monitoring and tracking conditions. Subjects monitored an automatic tracking task for dynamic system failures. Tracking was the Critical Task with a subcritical level of instability. The reaction time data paralleled the previously reported findings of inferior performance for stabiles. The data for complex single and dual task conditions did not reveal a similar trend. Generally, stabiles performed better. The pattern of these results suggests that the proposed selective enhancement associated with electrodermal lability is only adaptive for tasks that require or profit from focused attention.


2011 ◽  
Vol 219 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene A. Brewer

The analysis of response times from prospective memory experiments has resulted in multiple theoretical propositions about the role of attention in prospective memory. Extant theories of prospective memory are in good agreement that attention is necessary for detecting intention-related cues. However, these theories were primarily formulated to describe differences in mean reaction times across experimental conditions. While this approach has been fruitful for establishing a fundamental relation between attention and prospective memory, reaction time modeling techniques can be applied to prospective memory data to better constrain theorizing. In the current work, the ex-Gaussian distribution is fit to data from a prospective memory task. The results from this analysis suggest that modeling reaction time data has the potential for clarifying our understanding of the role of attention in prospective memory.


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