Risk and Decision-Making Flashcards

When Pymetrics presents a task where each balloon pop forfeits all accumulated earnings for that balloon, what does bursting many balloons suggest about a candidate?

Answer: Difficulty setting limits and controlling impulses

Frequently bursting balloons in the BART indicates difficulty knowing when to stop, suggesting poor impulse control.

A Pymetrics risk task offers: Option A = $5 guaranteed, Option B = 50% chance of $12 or 50% chance of $0. A rational expected-value maximizer should choose:

Answer: Option B, because its expected value of $6 exceeds $5

Option B has an expected value of $6 (0.5×$12), which exceeds the $5 guaranteed payout, making it the rational EV-maximizing choice.

In Pymetrics, the concept of 'ambiguity aversion' differs from risk aversion because ambiguity aversion involves:

Answer: Preferring known probabilities over unknown probabilities

Ambiguity aversion is discomfort with unknown probability distributions, whereas risk aversion concerns known but unfavorable odds.

Which behavioral pattern in Pymetrics' financial decision games most strongly predicts a candidate suited for roles requiring bold strategic bets?

Answer: Calibrated risk-taking that scales with positive expected value

Calibrated risk-taking—scaling risk-taking to expected value—demonstrates strategic boldness without recklessness.

In a Pymetrics sequential investment game, you've lost the last three rounds. The optimal evidence-based response is to:

Answer: Continue with a consistent strategy based on expected value

Each round is typically independent, so maintaining a consistent EV-based strategy avoids the gambler's fallacy trap.

Pymetrics measures not just what you decide but how you decide. Which response pattern signals the highest cognitive consistency?

Answer: Showing longer deliberation for high-stakes decisions and quicker choices for low-stakes ones

Spending more time on high-stakes decisions reflects appropriate weighting of cognitive effort to decision importance.

In Pymetrics' risk tasks, candidates who show high 'probability matching' (choosing options proportional to their win rate rather than always picking the best option) tend to be identified as:

Answer: Suboptimal decision-makers who sacrifice EV for variety

Probability matching is a common human bias where people match choice frequencies to outcome probabilities instead of always picking the highest-probability option.