USE OF RESPONSE TIMES TO EVALUATE STATEGIES OF INFORMATION SEEKING

In a deferred decision-making task, the time taken by male volunteer undergraduates in 3 groups of 20 Ss each to request information was examined as a function of 3 parameters that define possible strategies of information seeking. Response times were slower as the amount of information purchased approached the terminal sample size, but there were no effects as a function of other parameters. The data suggest that only sample size determines Ss' stopping strategies, which conflicts with results found here and in other studies when the 3 strategies were tested directly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.