Decision Making2–4 minBurden: LowEMA: Medium

Risky Choice

A lottery-decision task that measures risk preference by presenting guaranteed amounts against probabilistic prizes.

Risk preferenceDecision making under uncertaintyLoss aversion
Category
Decision Making
Typical duration
2–4 min
Participant burden
Low
EMA suitability
Medium

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Configure parameters and run an interactive preview exactly as participants will experience it. No data is recorded.

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Include practice trials

Shown with feedback before the main task

Task parameters

Certain vs probabilistic reward choices. Outputs: risky choice proportion and average risk premium.

2–4 minBurden: LowEMA: Medium

This is a researcher preview. No participant data is recorded.

Simulated participant view

9:41

Risky Choice

A lottery-decision task that measures risk preference by presenting guaranteed amounts against probabilistic prizes.

No data is recorded

Participant experience on smartphone

On each trial two options are shown: a certain amount and a probabilistic prize. Probability is visualised as a filled circle array. The participant taps their preferred option.

When to use

Useful in economic psychology, addiction, anxiety, and personality research where individual risk preference is relevant. Also suitable as a baseline measure in any study collecting reward-sensitivity data.

When not to use

Not suitable as a clinical diagnostic instrument. Currency framing should be adapted to participant cultural context.

How to use in a study

Vary probability levels across trials to sample the full range of the participant's risk curve. Use at least 15–20 trials for stable estimates.

Researcher-configurable parameters

  • Number of trials
  • Probability levels sampled
  • Prize amounts
  • Practice block enabled / disabled

Outputs collected

  • Proportion of risky choices
  • Average risk premium accepted
  • Choice pattern by probability level

Interpretation notes

Risky-choice proportion is a summary metric. A full utility-function estimate requires fitting a model (e.g., prospect theory) to the trial-level data exported from SMAAT.

Scientific evidence

  • Touchscreen probability-choice tasks are reliable and show expected individual-difference correlations in healthy adult samples.

Read more

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