"Acceptance of Mixed Gambles Is Sensitive to the Range of Gains and Losses Experienced, and "Estimates of Lambda (k) Are Not a Reliable Measure of Loss Aversion: Reply to André and de Langhe (2021)": Correction.

Abstract

Reports an error in "Acceptance of mixed gambles is sensitive to the range of gains and losses experienced, and estimates of lambda (λ) are not a reliable measure of loss aversion: Reply to André and de Langhe (2021)" by Lukasz Walasek, Timothy L. Mullett and Neil Stewart (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2021[Dec], Vol 150[12], 2666-2670). In the article "Acceptance of Mixed Gambles Is Sensitive to the Range of Gains and Losses Experienced, and Estimates of Lambda (k) Are Not a Reliable Measure of Loss Aversion: Reply to André and de Langhe (2021)" by Lukasz Walasek, Timothy L. Mullett, and Neil Stewart (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2021, Vol. 150, No. 12, pp. 2666-2670. doi: 10.1037/xge0001054), the year of publication was changed from 2020 to 2021 in the article title, abstract, introduction, and the first paragraph of the Estimates of Lambda section to reflect the correct final publication year. The year of publication and complete citation information for Andre & de Langhe in the References list were included. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2022-20752-001.) Walasek and Stewart (2015) demonstrated that loss aversion estimated from fitting accept-reject choice data from a set of 50-50 gambles can be made to disappear or even reverse by manipulating the range of gains and losses experienced in different conditions. André and de Langhe (2021) critique this conclusion because in estimating loss aversion on different choice sets, Walasek and Stewart (2015) have violated measurement invariance. They show, and we agree, that when loss aversion is estimated on the choices common to all conditions, there is no difference in prospect theory's λ parameter. But there are two problems here. First, while there are no differences in λs across conditions, there are very large differences in the proportion of the common gambles that are accepted, which André and de Langhe chose not to report. These choice proportion differences are consistent with decision by sampling (but are inconsistent with prospect theory or any of the alternative mechanisms proposed by André & de Langhe, 2021). Second, we demonstrate a much more general problem related to the issue of measurement invariance: that λ estimated from the accept-reject choices is extremely unreliable and does not generalize even across random splits within large, balanced choice sets. It is therefore not possible to determine whether differences in choice proportions are due to loss aversion or to a bias in accepting or rejecting mixed gambles. We conclude that context has large effects on the acceptance of mixed gambles and that it is futile to estimate λ from accept-reject choices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).