Active information search and complete information presentation in naturalistic risky decision tasks

Most experimental results in research on risky decisions have been obtained with lotteries. Choices between lotteries differ in many respects from natural risky decision tasks. Furthermore, the mode of information presentation in gambling experiments is very different from natural situations. In our experiment, 32 non-students made choices in two naturalistic risky decision tasks. The mode of information presentation was varied: Complete information presentation (as common in gambling experiments) vs. Method of Active Information Search (the subject gets a basic description of the task, and has to ask questions to receive additional information). In naturalistic tasks, probability was used less often than expected from classical decision theory, whereas the search for new alternatives, worst-case plans and control considerations were more relevant. The type of information presentation had a distinct effect. With Active Information Search, only a minority of subjects was interested in probabilities. Precise probabilities were used solely in the condition with Complete information presentation.