The left digit effect in a complex judgment task: Evaluating hypothetical college applicants. (26th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Patalano, Andrea L.; Williams, Katherine; Weeks, Gillian; Kayton, Kelsey; Barth, Hilary
• Is Part Of: Journal of behavioral decision making. Volume 35:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-03-26
• Subjects: judgment -- left digit effect -- number line estimation -- numerical cognition; Decision making -- Periodicals; Managerial economics -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Decision Making -- Periodicals; Prise de décision -- Périodiques; Économie d'entreprise -- Périodiques; 153.83
• DOI: 10.1002/bdm.2247
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-3257

Abstract

Abstract: A left digit effect has been broadly observed across judgment and decision‐making contexts ranging from product evaluation to medical treatment decisions to number line estimation. For example, $3.00 is judged to be a much greater cost than $2.99, and "801" is estimated strikingly too far to the right of "798" on a number line. Although the consequences of the effects for judgment and decision behavior have been documented, the sources of the effects are not well established. The goal of the current work is to extend investigations of the left digit effect to a new complex judgment activity and to assess whether the magnitude of the effect at the individual level can be predicted from performance on a simpler number skills task on which the left digit effect has also recently been observed. In three experiments ( N = 434), adults completed a judgment task in which they rated the strength of hypothetical applicants for college admission and a self‐paced number line estimation task. In all experiments, a small or medium left digit effect was found in the college admissions task, and a large effect was found in number line estimation. Individual‐level variation was observed, but there was no relationship between the magnitudes of the effects in the two tasks. These findings provide evidence of a left digit effect in a novel multiattribute judgment task but offer no evidence that such performance can be predicted from a simple number skills task such as number line estimation.