Query Theory: A Process Account of Preference Construction

A talk on “Query Theory: A Process Account of Preference Construction” will be presented by Eric Johnson and Elke Weber of Columbia University on Tuesday, June 23rd from 10:00-11:30 AM in HA 966.
Abstract: Many psychologists and behavioral economists agree that many of our preferences are constructed, rather than innate or pre-computed and stored. Little research, however, has explored the implications that established facts about human attention and memory have when people marshal evidence for their decisions.  This talk reviews query theory, a psychological process model of preference construction, and uses it to explain a range of phenomena in intertemporal choice, including our impatience when we are asked to delay consumption.  Behavioral data provide support for query theory’s assumptions about the processes underlying intertemporal preference construction and attribute labeling.