Abstract
Twenty Ss served in a simple pay-to-observe task. On each of 330 trials they were given one free sample and then had the option of purchasing one more before reaching a terminal decision. The hypotheses to be resolved differed as to the parameter p (0.60 vs 0.40) of the binomial distribution generating the samples. Decision-making behavior was evaluated with respect to an optimum purchasing policy which maximizes expected value. The findings were these: (1) there were large individual differences in purchasing behavior; (2) the number of purchases made declined with increases in the informational impact of the free sample and the purchase price of the second sample; (3) there were substantial departures from the optimum policy, all but one of these involving the purchase of too much information; (4) there were no significant differences in information-gathering strategies as a function of the supplying/withholding of a posteriori probability statements bearing on the informational impact of the free sample.
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