Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model

People have a stronger preference for options encountered earlier or later in a sequence than for options in the middle of the sequence. To account for these primacy and recency effects, Mantonakis, Rodero, Lesschaeve, and Hastie (2009) sketched a sequential updating mechanism, the pairwise-competit...

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Main Authors: Emina eCanic, Thorsten ePachur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00902/full
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spelling doaj-87e721f2dac14268bf079ca2dd31b2032020-11-25T00:16:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782014-08-01510.3389/fpsyg.2014.0090299726Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition ModelEmina eCanic0Thorsten ePachur1University of WarwickMax Planck Institute for Human DevelopmentPeople have a stronger preference for options encountered earlier or later in a sequence than for options in the middle of the sequence. To account for these primacy and recency effects, Mantonakis, Rodero, Lesschaeve, and Hastie (2009) sketched a sequential updating mechanism, the pairwise-competition model. We propose a formal instantiation of the model and, using computer simulations, examine how the sizes of the predicted primacy and recency effects are affected by (a) variability in the quality of the options; (b) the number of options presented (sequence length); (c) the level of choice inertia (i.e., the tendency to stick with the current favorite); and (d) whether choice inertia dynamically increases over the sequence. We find that recency effects are reduced and primacy effects are increased with variability in quality as compared to without, and that this holds regardless of sequence length. A sizeable primacy effect occurs only with relatively short sequences or rather high levels of choice inertia. Dynamic inertia increases primacy effects and reduces recency effects, and the impact increases with higher inertia levels. We relate these results to empirical findings and derive novel predictions from the model.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00902/fullInertiaPrimacy and Recency EffectsSerial-Position EffectsSequential evaluationPreference construction
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Emina eCanic
Thorsten ePachur
spellingShingle Emina eCanic
Thorsten ePachur
Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
Frontiers in Psychology
Inertia
Primacy and Recency Effects
Serial-Position Effects
Sequential evaluation
Preference construction
author_facet Emina eCanic
Thorsten ePachur
author_sort Emina eCanic
title Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
title_short Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
title_full Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
title_fullStr Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
title_full_unstemmed Serial-Position Effects in Preference Construction: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Pairwise-Competition Model
title_sort serial-position effects in preference construction: a sensitivity analysis of the pairwise-competition model
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Psychology
issn 1664-1078
publishDate 2014-08-01
description People have a stronger preference for options encountered earlier or later in a sequence than for options in the middle of the sequence. To account for these primacy and recency effects, Mantonakis, Rodero, Lesschaeve, and Hastie (2009) sketched a sequential updating mechanism, the pairwise-competition model. We propose a formal instantiation of the model and, using computer simulations, examine how the sizes of the predicted primacy and recency effects are affected by (a) variability in the quality of the options; (b) the number of options presented (sequence length); (c) the level of choice inertia (i.e., the tendency to stick with the current favorite); and (d) whether choice inertia dynamically increases over the sequence. We find that recency effects are reduced and primacy effects are increased with variability in quality as compared to without, and that this holds regardless of sequence length. A sizeable primacy effect occurs only with relatively short sequences or rather high levels of choice inertia. Dynamic inertia increases primacy effects and reduces recency effects, and the impact increases with higher inertia levels. We relate these results to empirical findings and derive novel predictions from the model.
topic Inertia
Primacy and Recency Effects
Serial-Position Effects
Sequential evaluation
Preference construction
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00902/full
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AT thorstenepachur serialpositioneffectsinpreferenceconstructionasensitivityanalysisofthepairwisecompetitionmodel
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