Determinants of the remembered utility of aversive sounds.

Abstract

Retrospective evaluations of aversive episodes were studied in the context of a general model of "judgment by prototype" that has been applied in other situations. Unpleasant sounds of variable loudness and duration were the stimuli. In Experiment 1, continuous reports of annoyance closely tracked variations of noise intensity. Hypotheses about the determinants of retrospective evaluation were examined in Experiment 2. Experiment 3 confirmed a prediction of judgment by prototype: The effects of sound duration and intensity are additive in multitrial experiments. Experiment 4 confirmed a robust preference for aversive episodes that are "improved" by adding a period of reduced aversiveness.

Cites (2)

1. Belief in the law of small numbers.
   Tversky, Amos, Kahneman, Daniel · 1971 · Psychological Bulletin
2. When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End
   Kahneman, Daniel, Fredrickson, Barbara L., Schreiber, Charles A., Redelmeier, Donald A. · 1993 · Psychological Science

Show all 2 references

Cited by (15)

1. A perspective on judgment and choice: mapping bounded rationality.
   Kahneman, Daniel · 2003 · American Psychologist
2. Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics
   Kahneman, Daniel · 2003 · American Economic Review
3. Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Social Behavior
   Strack, Fritz, Deutsch, Roland · 2004 · Personality and Social Psychology Review
4. Representativeness revisited: Attribute substitution in intuitive judgment.
   Kahneman, Daniel, Frederick, Shane · 2002 · Heuristics and Biases
5. The Affect Heuristic
   Slovic, Paul, Finucane, Melissa, Peters, Ellen, MacGregor, Donald G. · 2002 · Heuristics and Biases

See all 311