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Talk:Neglect of probability

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Hsee example needs reworking badly

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"In another example of near-total neglect of probability , Rottenstreich and Hsee (2001) found that the typical subject was willing to pay $7 to avoid a 1% chance of a painful electric shock, and $10 - only a little more - to avoid a 99% chance of the same shock. (They suggest that probability is more likely to be neglected when the outcomes are emotion arousing.)" As currently written, this seems to be a "duh" response. If someone is willing to pay $7 to avoid a 1% chance, paying less than $693 to avoid a 99% chance is a bargain. Perhaps this needs to be rephrased, but the current way it's phrased only proves that people are willing to pay less than the maximum amount they'd accept... a trivial principle of economics Eoseth (talk) 04:49, 10 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I took a stab at this by changing the order of the sentence. Paying $10 for 99% and $7 for only 1% is an egregious violation of the same economic principle (paying $7 when it should be only worth about $0.10). I am not sure if this properly represents the study, though, so it might need another look. Primalmoon (talk) 12:54, 23 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]