Measurements of rationality: individual differences in information processing, the transitivity of preferences and decision strategies

This is a Centre for Decision Research (CDR) Seminar taking place at Leeds University Business School on Wednesday 1 November 2017

Dr Patrycja Śleboda has recently completed her PhD in economic psychology at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw and will be delivering the fifth presentation in the Centre for Decision Research's 2017/18 seminar series.

The aim of Dr Śleboda's studies has been to check what the relation is between rationality understood as obeying transitivity axiom (UT) and rationality operationalised in terms of individual differences in information processing either by System 1 or System 2 (DPT). In four studies, the relationship between transitivity of preferences and two types of DPT measurements CRT (Frederick, 2005) REI-short 24 (Paccini and Epstein 1999) has been checked.

The second goal has been to test the relationship between both DPT measures as well as transitivity of preferences and applied decision strategies. The following characteristics of strategies have been investigated: requirements for trade-offs, maximization vs. satisficing and option-wise vs. attribute-wise information processing. Additionally, difficulty of decision, understood as the importance of consequences, has been investigated as a factor that might influence applied decision strategies and transitivity of preferences. 

It has been found that REI-R and CRT are good predictors of transitivity of preferences. As it was expected high scores on REI-R and CRT and transitivity of preferences were reflected in the applied strategies, i.e. option-wise decision strategies let to higher scores on the measurements of rationality. Importance of consequences influenced consistency in applied strategies and transitivity of preferences. 

About the speaker

Dr Patrycja Śleboda

Dr Patrycja Śleboda has recently completed her PhD in economic psychology at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw.

Her main interest is rationality in decision making with a high focus on the concept of bounded rationality. Dr Śleboda's doctoral project aimed to examine the conditions for using compensatory and non-compensatory strategies in relation to the concept of rationality. The next step of her research will focus on applied decision making studies. Dr Śleboda will soon start her post-doctoral fellowship at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Economics working within the group of Decision-Making and Managerial Behaviour

For further information, please contact the Research Office at research.LUBS@leeds.ac.uk