Monetary incentive and range of payoffs as determiners of risk taking.

"One group of 18 Ss gambled for chips only and another group of 18 Ss gambled for chips worth 5 each. Three ranges of unknown payoffs were used, one at each of three sessions. The known payoff, the acceptance of which was the alternative to gambling, remained constant. Neither incentive nor range had a significant effect upon the total number of risks taken. The Ss gambled significantly more when the alternative to gambling was a loss (-1) than when it was a gain (+1). Several interactions were significant, including Range X Value and Range X Value X Incentive. These led to the conclusion that gambling is affected differentially on +1 and -1 trials by the range of chips to be gained or lost, and by the interaction of range and monetary incentive." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)