Experimental Strategy for Investigating the Neural Basis of Framing Effects

We investigate subjective reactions when subjects realize they have been victims of framing-effects in situations of risky choices - that is, when they violated the invariance principle in decision-theory. We try to assess various explanations of this violation in terms of bounded rationality and cognitive biases. One criterion we use in our assessment is a feeling of cognitive discomfort subjects may have after norm infringement. In ourexperimental study of framing effects, it is crucial to confront these "feelings of irrationality" and contextual reasons (moral and/or emotional) subjects may give to justify their violation of the invariance principle.