RECENT RESEARCH

1). FRAMING EFFECTS IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2005 July; 60(4): P215–P218.

Sunghan Kim,1 David Goldstein,1 Lynn Hasher,1,2 and Rose T. Zacks3

1
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.

Abstract
A growing literature on decision making in older adults suggests that they are more
likely to use heuristic processing than are younger adults. We assessed this tendency in
the context of a framing effect, a decision-making phenomenon whereby the language
used to describe options greatly influences the decision maker’s choice. We compared
decision making under a standard (“heuristic”) condition and also under a “justification”
condition known to reduce reliance on heuristics. In the standard condition, older adults
were more susceptible than younger adults to framing but the two groups did not differ
when participants were asked to provide a justification. Thus, although older adults may
spontaneously rely more on heuristic processing than younger adults, they can be
induced to take a more systematic approach to decision making.

2). ON FRAMING EFFECTS IN DECISION MAKING:

LINKING LATERAL VERSUS MEDIAL ORBITOFRONTAL
CORTEX ACTIVATION TO CHOICE OUTCOME
PROCESSING

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience archive

Volume 18 Issue 7, July 2006
MIT Press Cambridge, MA, USA
table of contents
doi>10.1162/jocn.2006.18.7.1198

Two correlates of outcome processing in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been
proposed in the literature: One hypothesis suggests that the lateral/medial division
relates to representation of outcome valence (negative vs. positive), and the other
suggests that the medial OFC maintains steady stimulus-outcome associations,
whereas the lateral OFC represents changing (unsteady) outcomes to prepare for
response shifts. These two hypotheses were contrasted by comparing the original with
the inverted version of the Iowa Gambling Task in an event-related functional magnetic
resonance imaging experiment. Results showed (1) that (caudo) lateral OFC was
indeed sensitive to the steadiness of the outcomes and not merely to outcome valence
and (2) that the original and the inverted tasks, although both designed to measure
sensitivity for future outcomes, were not equivalent as they enacted different behaviors
and brain activation patterns. Results are interpreted in terms of Kahneman and
Tversky's prospect theory suggesting that cognitions and decisions are biased
differentially when probabilistic future rewards are weighed against consistent
punishments relative to the opposite scenario [Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. Choices,
values, and frames. American Psychologist, 39, 341--350, 1984]. Specialized
processing of unsteady rewards (involving caudolateral OFC) may have developed
during evolution in support of goal-related thinking, prospective planning, and problem
solving.

3). FRAMING EFFECTS IN POLITICAL DECISION MAKING: EVIDENCE FROM A

NATURAL VOTING EXPERIMENT
Monika Buetler
Michel Andr Marchal

Date of creation: 2007

This paper analyzes a recent ballot in which two virtually identical popular initiatives,
both demanding a decrease in the legal age of retirement in Switzerland, led to
differences in approval rates of nearly seven percentage points. Based on this unique
natural experiment, the existence of emphasis framing effects is tested for and their
determinants are identified outside of the controlled settings of laboratories.
Nonetheless, the analyzed setting allows for considerably more control than usually
available in the field: All party, government and interest group recommendations were
symmetric for both initiatives, and the simultaneous vote rules out potential variation of
individual preferences and compositional changes of the electorate over time. Using
community and individual level data it is shown that the difference in approval rates is
largely due to the different emphases in the initiatives titles.

4). FRAMING EFFECTS IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS

1. Sunghan Kim 1 ,
2. David Goldstein 1 ,
3. Lynn Hasher 1 , 2 and
4. Rose T. Zacks 3

+ Author Affiliations

1. 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.

2. 2The Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre, Toronto, Canada.
3. 3Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
 Received September 3, 2004.  

Abstract

A growing literature on decision making in older adults suggests that they are more
likely to use heuristic processing than are younger adults. We assessed this tendency in
the context of a framing effect, a decision-making phenomenon whereby the language
used to describe options greatly influences the decision maker's choice. We compared
decision making under a standard (“heuristic”) condition and also under a “justification”
condition known to reduce reliance on heuristics. In the standard condition, older adults
were more susceptible than younger adults to framing but the two groups did not differ
when participants were asked to provide a justification. Thus, although older adults may
spontaneously rely more on heuristic processing than younger adults, they can be
induced to take a more systematic approach to decision making.