A double-slit experiment with human subjects

PLoS One. 2021 Feb 11;16(2):e0246526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246526. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

We study a sequence of "double-slit" experiments designed to perform repeated measurements of an attribute in a large pool of subjects using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Our findings contrast the prescriptions of decision theory in novel and interesting ways. The response to an identical sequel measurement of the same attribute can be at significant variance with the initial measurement. Furthermore, the response to the sequel measurement depends on whether the initial measurement has taken place. In the absence of the initial measurement, the sequel measurement reveals additional variability, leading to a multimodal frequency distribution which is largely absent if the first measurement has taken place.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Choice Behavior*
  • Decision Theory*
  • Humans
  • Memory

Grants and funding

Our experiment was funded by the UC Irvine School of Social Sciences.