Do Control Questions Influence Behavior in Experiments?

Catherine Roux and Christian Thöni

Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie from Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie

Abstract: Outcomes and strategies shown in control questions prior to experimental play may provide subjects with anchors or induce experimenter demand effects. In a Cournot oligopoly experiment we explore whether control questions influence subjects' choices in initial periods and over the course of a repeated game. We vary the framing of the control question to explore the cause of potential influences. We find no evidence for an influence of the control question on choices, neither in the first period nor later in the game.

Keywords: Control questions; Experimenter demand effects; Anchoring; Experimental design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B41 C72 C91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2013-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-cwa, nep-evo, nep-exp and nep-hpe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Do control questions influence behavior in experiments? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lau:crdeep:13.03

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