The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Sun, Jonghun
Language:	English
Published:	The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2012
Subjects:	Psychology Estimation Unit
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1351279308

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu13512793082021-08-03T06:06:31Z The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume Sun, Jonghun Psychology Estimation Unit Previous research has demonstrated that changes in units can affect judgments and decisions. For example, people interpret quantitative information that is expressed as a larger number of small units as being larger than the same quantity expressed as a smaller number of large units. In related work, estimates of length or distance or the monetary value of goods are sometimes larger when participants use large units rather than small units. In all of this research, however, the focus has been on other phenomena (e.g., anchoring, attribute weighting, consumer behavior) rather than on the underlying relationship between numerical estimates and units. In two studies, we anticipated that participants’ estimates of physical quantities (e.g., the weight of a brick) would be larger when participants used larger units (e.g., pounds) than when they used smaller units (e.g., ounces), because their numerical answers would not be adjusted enough to compensate for differences in units. In Study 1, estimates of items’ length, weight, and volume were larger when made in larger units than when made in smaller units. This “unit effect” remained significant when we adjusted for participants’ incorrect knowledge of unit ratios and when we considered only those participants who knew the correct ratios. In addition, the unit effect was larger when participants were less familiar with the units used to make the estimates. In Study 2, participants estimated weight and volume using either familiar or unfamiliar (fictional) units. The unit effect was significant for unfamiliar units but not for familiar units. Possible mechanisms for these results are discussed and further research hypotheses are presented. 2012-12-18 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1351279308 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1351279308 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Psychology Estimation Unit
spellingShingle	Psychology Estimation Unit Sun, Jonghun The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
author	Sun, Jonghun
author_facet	Sun, Jonghun
author_sort	Sun, Jonghun
title	The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
title_short	The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
title_full	The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
title_fullStr	The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
title_full_unstemmed	The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume
title_sort	effect of using large versus small units in quantitative estimates of length, weight, and volume
publisher	The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate	2012
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1351279308
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The Effect of Using Large versus Small Units in Quantitative Estimates of Length, Weight, and Volume

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