Learning the value of money from stochastically varying prices.
In 3 experiments, the authors investigated learning of the value of money from product prices in an unfamiliar currency when the prices are proportional to quantity. In support of the second stage of a hypothesized 2-stage process of learning, Experiment 1, in which 32 undergraduates participated, shows that response times for inferences of quantity are longer when participants are presented with quantity-price pairs than when they are presented with price-quantity pairs. Experiments 2 and 3, in which 54 and 34 undergraduates participated, respectively, show that (a) stochastic price variation causes systematic errors in the learning of unit prices from quantity-price pairs as a result of judgmental regression effects and (b) in support of the 2-stage learning hypothesis, inferences of quantity are the inverse of the learned unit prices.
Gärling
Tommy
T
Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Göteberg, Sweden. tommy.garling@psy.gu.se
Gamble
Amelie
A
Juliusson
Asgeir
A
D000328:Adult; D003132:Commerce; D004467:Economics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013269:Stochastic Processes