Effects of framing and mathematical experience on judgments

Abstract

The effects of framing and mathematical training on judgment were investigated. Pre-university students with either little or advanced training in mathematics were tested on their responses to a series of decision-making scenarios. They indicated their likelihood of accepting strategies when given information that was framed either positively or negatively. As expected, positively framed strategies received higher likelihood ratings than their negatively framed equivalent. Of note is that nonmathematically trained students produced higher likelihood ratings than did mathematically trained students. However, the interaction between framing and mathematical training was not significant. This suggests that while mathematically trained individuals wereless willing to accept the strategies, they were just as influenced by framing as the nonmathematically trained individuals were. Discussions focus on possible differences in framing effects based on levels of expertise in judgment, simulated versus real decision-making tasks, and, particularly, the content (i.e., cognitive vs. affective nature) of the decision-making tasks.