Exploring the time-saving bias: How drivers misestimate time saved when increasing speed
Journal Title: Judgment and Decision Making - Year 2010, Vol 5, Issue 7
Abstract
According to the time-saving bias, drivers underestimate the time saved when increasing from a low speed and overestimate the time saved when increasing from a relatively high speed. Previous research used a specific type of task — drivers were asked to estimate time saved when increasing speed and to give a numeric response — to show this. The present research conducted two studies with multiple questions to show that the time-saving bias occurs in other tasks. Study 1 found that drivers committed the time-saving bias when asked to estimate (a) the time saved when increasing speed or (b) the distance that can be completed at a given time when increasing speed or (c) the speed required to complete a given distance in decreasing times. Study 2 showed no major differences in estimations of time saved compared to estimations of the remaining journey time and also between responses given on a numeric scale versus a visual analog scale. Study 3 tested two possible explanations for the time-saving bias: a Proportion heuristic and a Differences heuristic. Some evidence was found for use of the latter.
Authors and Affiliations
Eyal Peer
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP677767
- DOI -
- Views 143
- Downloads 0
Which grades are better, A’s and C’s, or all B’s? Effects of variability in grades on mock college admissions decisions
Students may need to decide whether to invest limited resources evenly across all courses and thus end with moderate grades in all, or focus on some of the courses and thus end with variable grades. This study examined w...
How do jurors argue with one another?
We asked jurors awaiting trial assignment to listen to a recorded synopsis of an authentic criminal trial and to make a choice among 4 verdict possibilities. Each participant juror then deliberated with another juror who...
Are medical treatments for individuals and groups like single-play and multiple-play gambles?
People are often more likely to accept risky monetary gambles with positive expected values when the gambles will be played more than once. We investigated whether this distinction between single-play and multiple-play g...
Inferring uncertainty from interval estimates: Effects of alpha level and numeracy
Interval estimates are commonly used to descriptively communicate the degree of uncertainty in numerical values. Conventionally, low alpha levels (e.g., .05) ensure a high probability of capturing the target value betwee...
Further evidence for the memory state heuristic: Recognition latency predictions for binary inferences
According to the recognition heuristic (RH), for decision domains where recognition is a valid predictor of a choice criterion, recognition alone is used to make inferences whenever one object is recognized and the other...