Rationalising Framing Effects: At Least One Task for Empirically Informed Philosophy
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Abstract
Human judgements are affected by the words in which information is presented —or ‘framed’. According to the standard gloss, ‘framing effects’ reveal counter-normative reasoning, unduly affected by positive/negative language. One challenge to this view suggests that number expressions in alternative framing conditions are interpreted as denoting lower-bounded (minimum) quantities. However, it is unclear whether the resulting explanation is a rationalising one. I argue that a number expression should only be interpreted lower-boundedly if this is what it actually means. I survey how number expressions might be assigned lower-bounded meanings, due to their conventional semantics or pragmatic enrichment in context. I argue that deciding between these possibilities requires foundational philosophical input.
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Fisher, S. A. (2020). Rationalising Framing Effects: At Least One Task for Empirically Informed Philosophy. Crítica. Revista Hispanoamericana De Filosofía, 52(156), 5–30. https://doi.org/10.22201/iifs.18704905e.2020.1221
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References
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Levinson, S.C., 2000, Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
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30/08/2020].
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Mandel, D.R., 2001, “Gain-Loss Framing and Choice: Separating Outcome Formulations
from Descriptor Formulations”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 56–76. (doi:10.1006/obhd.2000.2932)
McKenzie, C.R.M., S. Sher, L.M. Leong and J. Müller-Trede, 2018, “Constructed
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Okder, H., 2012, “The Illusion of the Framing Effect in Risky Decision Making”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 63–73. (doi:10.1002/bdm.715)
Saul, J.M., 2013, Lying, Misleading, and What is Said: An Exploration in Philosophy of Language and in Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Saul, J.M., 2002, “What Is Said and Psychological Reality; Grice’s Project and Relevance Theorists’ Criticisms”, Linguistics and Philosophy, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 347–372. (doi:10.1023/A:1015221313887)
Sher, S. and C.R.M. McKenzie, 2006, “Information Leakage from Logically Equivalent Frames”, Cognition, vol. 101, no. 3, pp. 467–494. (doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.11.001)
Simmons, J. and L. Nelson, 2013, “ ‘Exactly’: The Most Famous Framing Effect is Robust to Precise Wording”, http://datacolada.org/11 [date of last consultation: 30/08/2020].
Spector, B., 2013, “Bare Numerals and Scalar Implicatures”, Language and Linguistics Compass, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 273–294. (doi:10.1111/lnc3.12018)
Sperber, D. and D. Wilson, 1995, Relevance: Communication and Cognition (2nd ed.), Blackwell, Oxford.
Stanovich, K.E. and R.F. West, 1998, “Individual Differences in Framing and Conjunction Effects”, Thinking and Reasoning, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 289–317. (doi:10.1080/135467898394094)
Steiger, A. and A. Kühberger, 2018, “A Meta-Analytic Re-Appraisal of the Framing Effect”, Zeitschrift für Psychologie, vol. 226, no. 1, pp. 45–55.
(doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000321)
Teigen, K.H., 2011, “When Frames Meet Realities: On the Perceived Correctness of Inaccurate Estimates”, in G. Keren (comp.), Perspectives on Framing, Psychology Press, Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Teigen, K.H. and M.I. Nikolaisen, 2009, “Incorrect Estimates and False Reports: How Framing Modifies Truth”, Thinking and Reasoning, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 268–293. (doi:10.1080/13546780903020999)
Tombu, M. and D.R. Mandel, 2015, “When Does Framing Influence Preferences, Risk Perceptions, and Risk Attitudes? The Explicated Valence Account”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 464–476. (doi:10.1002/bdm.1863)
Tversky, A. and D. Kahneman, 1981, “The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice”, Science, vol. 211, no. 4481, pp. 453–458. (doi:10.1126/science.7455683)
Bermúdez, J.L., 2018, “Frames, Rationality, and Self-Control”, in J.L. Bermúdez (comp.), Self-Control, Decision Theory, and Rationality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Bermúdez, J.L., 2009, “The Second Challenge: Individuating Outcomes”, in J.L. Bermúdez (comp.), Decision Theory and Rationality, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Bohm, P. and H. Lind, 1992, “A Note on the Robustness of a Classical Framing Result”, Journal of Economic Psychology, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 355–361. (doi:10.1016/0167–4870(92)90039–)
Borg, E., 2017, “Explanatory Roles for Minimal Content”, Noûs, vol. 53, no. 3. (doi:10.1111/nous.12217)
Borg, E., 2012, Pursuing Meaning, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Borg, E., 2004, Minimal Semantics, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Breheny, R., 2008, “A New Look at the Semantics and Pragmatics of Numerically Quantified Noun Phrases”, Journal of Semantics, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 93–139. (doi: 10.1093/jos/ffm016)
Cappelen, H. and E. Lepore, 2005, Insensitive Semantics: A Defense of Semantic Minimalism and Speech Act Pluralism, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
Carston, R., 2002, Thoughts and Utterances: The Pragmatics of Explicit Communication, Blackwell, Oxford.
Carston, R., 1998, “Informativeness, Relevance and Scalar Implicature”, in R. Carston and S. Uchida (comps.), Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
Carston, R., 1988, “Implicature, Explicature, and Truth-Theoretic Semantics”, in R.M. Kempson (comp.), Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Chick, C.F., Reyna, V.F. and J.C. Corbin, 2016, “Framing Effects Are Robust to Linguistic Disambiguation: A Critical Test of Contemporary Theory”, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 238–256. (doi:10.1037/xlm0000158)
Frisch, D., 1993, “Reasons for Framing Effects”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 399–429. (doi:10.1006/obhd.1993.1017)
Geurts, B., 2006, “Take ‘Five’: the Meaning and Use of a Number Word”, in S. Vogeleer and L. Tasmowski (comps.), Non-Definiteness and Plurality, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
Geurts, B. and P. Rubio-Fernández, 2015, “Pragmatics and Processing”, Ratio, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 446–469. (doi: 10.1111/rati.12113)
Grice, H.P., 1989, Studies in the Way of Words, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Halberg, A.-M. and K.H. Teigen, 2009, “Framing of Imprecise Quantities: When Are Lower Interval Bounds Preferred to Upper Bounds?”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 490–509. (doi:10.1002/bdm.635)
Horn, L., 1989, A Natural History of Negation, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Jou, J., J. Shanteau and R.J. Harris, 1996, “An Information Processing View of Framing Effects: The Role of Causal Schemas in Decision Making”, Memory and Cognition, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 1–15. (doi:10.3758/BF03197268)
Kahneman, D. and A. Tversky, 1979, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk”, Econometrica, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 263–291.
Kempson, R.M. and A. Cormack, 1981, “Ambiguity and Quantification”, Linguistics and Philosophy, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 259–309. (doi: 10.1007/BF00350141)
Kühberger, A., 1998, “The Influence of Framing on Risky Decisions: A Meta-analysis”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 23–55. (doi:10.1006/obhd.1998.2781)
Kühberger, A., 1995, “The Framing of Decisions: A New Look at Old Problems”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 230–240. (doi: 10.1006/obhd.1995.1046)
Kühberger, A., M. Schulte-Mecklenbeck and J. Perner, 1999, “The Effects of Framing, Reflection, Probability, and Payoff on Risk Preference in Choice Tasks”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 204–231. (doi:10.1006/obhd.1999.2830)
Kühberger, A. and C. Tanner, 2010, “Risky Choice Framing: Task Versions and a Comparison of Prospect Theory and Fuzzy-Trace Theory”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 314–329. (doi:10.1002/bdm.656)
Lepore, E. and M. Stone, 2015, Imagination and Convention: Distinguishing Grammar and Inference in Language, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Levin, I.P., S.L. Schneider and G.J. Gaeth, 1998, “Not All Frames Are Created Equal: A Typology and Critical Analysis of Framing Effects”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 149–188. (doi: 10.1006/obhd.1998.2804)
Levinson, S.C., 2000, Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Macdonald, R.R., 1986, “Credible Conceptions and Implausible Probabilities”, The British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 15–27. (doi:10.1111/j.2044-8317.1986.tb00842.x)
Mandel, D.R., 2020, “Framing Effects, Replications, and Scientific Inference: Reply to Commentary by Simmons and Nelson (2013) on Mandel (2014)”, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/34jeg [date of last consultation:
30/08/2020].
Mandel, D.R., 2014, “Do Framing Effects Reveal Irrational Choice?”, Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, vol. 143, no. 3, pp. 1185–1198. (doi:10.1037/a0034207)
Mandel, D.R., 2001, “Gain-Loss Framing and Choice: Separating Outcome Formulations
from Descriptor Formulations”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 56–76. (doi:10.1006/obhd.2000.2932)
McKenzie, C.R.M., S. Sher, L.M. Leong and J. Müller-Trede, 2018, “Constructed
Preferences, Rationality, and Choice Architecture”, Review of Behavioral Economics, vol. 5, no. 3–4, pp. 337–360. (doi: 10.1561/105.00000091)
Okder, H., 2012, “The Illusion of the Framing Effect in Risky Decision Making”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 63–73. (doi:10.1002/bdm.715)
Saul, J.M., 2013, Lying, Misleading, and What is Said: An Exploration in Philosophy of Language and in Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Saul, J.M., 2002, “What Is Said and Psychological Reality; Grice’s Project and Relevance Theorists’ Criticisms”, Linguistics and Philosophy, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 347–372. (doi:10.1023/A:1015221313887)
Sher, S. and C.R.M. McKenzie, 2006, “Information Leakage from Logically Equivalent Frames”, Cognition, vol. 101, no. 3, pp. 467–494. (doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2005.11.001)
Simmons, J. and L. Nelson, 2013, “ ‘Exactly’: The Most Famous Framing Effect is Robust to Precise Wording”, http://datacolada.org/11 [date of last consultation: 30/08/2020].
Spector, B., 2013, “Bare Numerals and Scalar Implicatures”, Language and Linguistics Compass, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 273–294. (doi:10.1111/lnc3.12018)
Sperber, D. and D. Wilson, 1995, Relevance: Communication and Cognition (2nd ed.), Blackwell, Oxford.
Stanovich, K.E. and R.F. West, 1998, “Individual Differences in Framing and Conjunction Effects”, Thinking and Reasoning, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 289–317. (doi:10.1080/135467898394094)
Steiger, A. and A. Kühberger, 2018, “A Meta-Analytic Re-Appraisal of the Framing Effect”, Zeitschrift für Psychologie, vol. 226, no. 1, pp. 45–55.
(doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000321)
Teigen, K.H., 2011, “When Frames Meet Realities: On the Perceived Correctness of Inaccurate Estimates”, in G. Keren (comp.), Perspectives on Framing, Psychology Press, Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Teigen, K.H. and M.I. Nikolaisen, 2009, “Incorrect Estimates and False Reports: How Framing Modifies Truth”, Thinking and Reasoning, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 268–293. (doi:10.1080/13546780903020999)
Tombu, M. and D.R. Mandel, 2015, “When Does Framing Influence Preferences, Risk Perceptions, and Risk Attitudes? The Explicated Valence Account”, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 464–476. (doi:10.1002/bdm.1863)
Tversky, A. and D. Kahneman, 1981, “The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice”, Science, vol. 211, no. 4481, pp. 453–458. (doi:10.1126/science.7455683)
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