Cognitive Biases and Information Choices: A Study of Individual Decision-Making – CogBIC

The research project focuses on the challenges individuals face when developing effective information search strategies. The project builds upon experimental findings obtained in an experimental paradigm simulating a recruitment situation. Most participants adopt an intuitive but less informative information search strategy. This type of inefficient information search behavior constitutes a cognitive bias that doesn't seem to have been identified previously and could have a broader impact on information search behaviors. The goal is to thoroughly investigate this cognitive bias using theoretical modeling and behavioral experiments and to explore potential remedies. The working hypothesis is that individuals facing a complex information search problem may first generate a prototype of their final decision, which serves as a starting point for information search. In particular, they will specifically seek information that reduces uncertainty about this prototype. Once information collection is complete, they will make their actual selection decision based on the collected information.