Instructions Decision-Making Task
Set-Up
- Two participants from Prolific are matched randomly.
- Both remain completely anonymous to each other.
Timing
- Both make a decision, conditional on becoming Player X,
in the decision-making task described below.
- After the decision, a random draw (50:50 chance) assigns the role
of Player X and Player Y between the two.
- Player X's decision will be executed.
Decision-Making Task
- There are two roles, Player X and Player Y.
- Player X is presented the above payoff matrix, in which Player Y's payoff is
unknown and a button that reveals the game.
- Before Player X makes an allocation choice, Player X can choose whether
to reveal the game and uncover Player Y's payoff at no cost or stay ignorant about
Player Y's payoff.
- Independent of Player X's choice, chance decides which of the two matrices, either
matrix 1 or matrix 2 is active (see below). The program chooses between the two options with equal
chance (50:50).
- If Player X chooses to reveal the game, Player X is presented the
corresponding active matrix.
- If Player X chooses not to reveal the game, Player X makes the
allocation choice and stays forever ignorant about the payoff consequences for Player Y.
Therefore one of the following three scenarios may materialize:
- If Player X chooses not to reveal the game, next Player X can choose
between two allocations, namely A and B.
- A: Player X gets £0.6 and stays ignorant about Player Y's payoff,
which is £0.1 with 50% probability and £0.5 with 50% probability.
- B: Player X gets £0.5 and stays ignorant about Player Y's payoff,
which is £0.5 with 50% probability and £0.1 with 50% probability.
- If Player X chooses to reveal the game and the program chose matrix 1
to be active, next Player X can choose between two allocations, namely A and B.
- A: Player X gets £0.6 and Player Y gets £0.1
- B: Player X gets £0.5 and Player Y gets £0.5
- If Player X chooses to reveal the game and the program chose matrix 2
to be active, next Player X can choose between two allocations, namely A and B.
- A: Player X gets £0.6 and Player Y gets £0.5
- B: Player X gets £0.5 and Player Y gets £0.1
- Player Y receives the respective amount in correspondence with Player X's decision.
- Player X is completely free to decide. The consequences of Player X's decision
have no further implications beyond the scope of this task.