Journal ArticleDOI
Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives
Daniel Kahneman,Dale T. Miller +1 more
TLDR
In this article, a theory of norms and normality is presented and applied to some phenomena of emotional responses, social judgment, and conversations about causes, such as emotional response to events that have abnormal causes, the generation of predictions and inferences from observations of behavior and the role of norms in causal questions and answers.Abstract:
A theory of norms and normality is presented and applied to some phenomena of emotional responses, social judgment, and conversations about causes. Norms are assumed to be constructed ad hoc by recruiting specific representations. Category norms are derived by recruiting exemplars. Specific objects or events generate their own norms by retrieval of similar experiences stored in memory or by construction of counterfactual alternatives. The normality of a stimulus is evaluated by comparing it to the norms that it evokes after the fact, rather than to precomputed expectations. Norm theory is applied in analyses of the enhanced emotional response to events that have abnormal causes, of the generation of predictions and inferences from observations of behavior, and of the role of norms in causal questions and answers. This article is concerned with category norms that represent knowledge of concepts and with stimulus norms that govern comparative judgments and designate experiences as surprising. In the tradition of adaptation level theory (Appley, 1971; Helson, 1964), the concept of norm is applied to events that range in complexity from single visual displays to social interactions. We first propose a model of an activation process that produces norms, then explore the role of norms in social cognition. The central idea of the present treatment is that norms are computed after the event rather than in advance. We sketch a supplement to the generally accepted idea that events in the stream of experience are interpreted and evaluated by consulting precomputed schemas and frames of reference. The view developed here is that each stimulus selectively recruits its own alternatives (Garner, 1962, 1970) and is interpreted in a rich context of remembered and constructed representations of what it could have been, might have been, or should have been. Thus, each event brings its own frame of reference into being. We also explore the idea that knowledge of categories (e.g., "encounters with Jim") can be derived on-line by selectively evoking stored representations of discrete episodes and exemplars. The present model assumes that a number of representations can be recruited in parallel, by either a stimulus event or anread more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Studying Consideration Effects in Empirical Choice Models Using Scanner Panel Data
Rick L. Andrews,T.C. Srinivasan +1 more
TL;DR: The authors develop a dynamic consideration set formation model, complementary to the static model developed by Roberts and Lattin (1991), which appears to improve the multinomial logit model significantly.
Book ChapterDOI
The availability heuristic revisited: Ease of recall and content of recall as distinct sources of information.
Norbert Schwarz,Leigh Ann Vaughn +1 more
TL;DR: According to Tversky and Kahneman's (1973, p. 208) availability heuristic, individuals estimate the frequency of an event or the likelihood of its occurrence by the ease with which instances or associations come to mind as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Identifying and Testing the Inhibitors of Technology Usage Intentions
TL;DR: The overall results support the existence and importance of inhibitors in explaining individual intent to use---or not use---technology.
Journal ArticleDOI
The framing effect and risky decisions: Examining cognitive functions with fMRI
TL;DR: This article used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate individuals that were asked to choose between one certain alternative and one risky alternative in response to problems framed as gains or losses.
Book ChapterDOI
Counterfactual Thinking: The Intersection of Affect and Function
Neal J. Roese,James M. Olson +1 more
TL;DR: This article reviewed recent research relevant to two interlocking ideas: negative emotions are an important trigger of counterfactual thinking, and such thoughts may often contain inferential benefits for the individual, to the extent that negative affect is viewed as an adaptive signal to the individual that something is wrong and corrective action is required.
References
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Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research
Martin Fishbein,Icek Ajzen +1 more
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An inventory for measuring depression
TL;DR: The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out and a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales have been developed.
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Prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk
Daniel Kahneman,Amos Tversky +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a critique of expected utility theory as a descriptive model of decision making under risk, and develop an alternative model, called prospect theory, in which value is assigned to gains and losses rather than to final assets and in which probabilities are replaced by decision weights.