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Moving Onwards: An Action Continuation Strategy in Finding the Way
Author(s) -
Tilburg Wijnand A. P.,
Igou Eric R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of behavioral decision making
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0771
pISSN - 0894-3257
DOI - 10.1002/bdm.1817
Subject(s) - continuation , action (physics) , preference , context (archaeology) , path (computing) , everyday life , process (computing) , climbing , decision making , computer science , decision process , psychology , operations research , mathematical economics , cognitive psychology , economics , management science , mathematics , microeconomics , operations management , political science , geography , law , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , purchasing , programming language , operating system
In four studies, we examined people's strategies when deciding between multiple routes of equivalent length in way‐finding tasks. The results reveal the important role of continuing behavior when faced with a choice from multiple viable routes. After affirming the existence of asymmetric preferences for alternatives (Studies 1 and 2), we observed that variations of simple known‐environment mazes supported action continuation as prevailing process over alternative strategies such as preference for long initial path segments, paths with a least deviating angle, and a modified hill climbing strategy (Study 3). Moreover, asymmetric preferences disappeared with the absence of initial behavior to inform subsequent decision making (Study 4). Results are discussed within the context of decision making, navigation strategies, and everyday life path finding. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.