Cat & Mouse Risk Task
For more information, contact
Bernd Figner.
Description:
Purpose
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The Cat & Mouse Risk Task is a game designed to assess risk taking and risk sensitivity in children, adolescents, and adults. The task assesses the following constructs:
- Risk taking: the percentage of high outcome variability choices out of the total choices made
- Risk sensitivity in choice: Are participants adaptively adjusting choice to varying combinations of expected value and aspiration level?
- Risk sensitivity in judgment: adjustment of subjective probability ratings
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Questions
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Participants play multiple trials in which the expected value of outcomes and the required aspiration level are factorially varied. In each trial, they can choose between a low or high outcome variability option. In addition, participants judge the subjective probabilities of reaching the given aspiration level.
- The description and rules of the game are intentionally child-friendly, to better match the abilities and interests of younger participants. Ps help a mouse elude a cat by choosing the option that will more likely bring the mouse to safety, i.e. the option with the higher probability of winning.
- In each trial, a die is presented with a certain number of winning color sides. Participants choose between using the presented die or blindly drawing from a bag containing dice with 0 to 6 winning color sides.
- The number of sides with the winning color is varied between trials, operationalizing expected value, as the die would be rolled 6 times in each trial.
- Trials vary also with respect to the distance between the mouse and the safe area, thus varying the number of winning color rolls (out of 6) required to save the mouse.
- This aspect of the game operationalizes aspiration level.
- During the task, no feedback is given, i.e., no dice are actually rolled or drawn from the bag. At the end of the task, three game rounds are played out with real incentives (prizes/money).
Aspects of the game that can be manipulated.
- Expected value: Die with 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 winning color sides
- Aspiration level: Required number of rolls (out of 6) that have to show the winning color, 1, 3, or 5. This is achieved by starting the mouse 1, 3, or 5 spaces from the safe area.
- Outcome variability: Low (using the die presented at the start of the trial) or high (drawing from a bag containing dice with 0 to 6 sides of the winning color)
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Sub-scales
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2 sub-scales:
- Risk taking and risk sensitivity in choice
- Risk sensitivity in judgment
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Domain
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Psychometrics
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Sample items
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Ps choose between
- Low outcome variability option
- High outcome variability option
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References:
Scale:
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