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endowment effect

the tendency of people to place a higher value on items once they own them or once these have been associated with the self in some other way. For example, an individual selling goods often prices them above what he or she would be willing to pay to acquire those same goods (i.e., selling prices exceed buying prices). The endowment effect is characterized by increased positive emotions toward the object. [coined in 1980 by U.S. economist Richard Thaler (1945–  )]

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Psychology term of the day

August 31st 2024

learning paradigm

learning paradigm

an experimental design used to research incidental learning. Groups of participants are shown the same stimuli (e.g., a list of 20 words) but asked to perform different tasks with them (e.g., picture associated words, determine the average number of letters in each word). Afterward, the participants unexpectedly are asked to recall as many of the presented items as possible.