ABSTRACT
When people make judgments and decisions, they must first discover the relevant information in the environment, search through and acquire that information and then combine it in some manner. A useful metaphor for conceptualizing these processes is provided by the lens model framework of Egon Brunswik. In this framework a judge is thought to view the world through a lens of cues, which are probabilistically related to the true state of the environment. One experimental technique born out of this metaphor is multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL). Cue search and acquisition can be guided by simple preference or objective cue-validity and is influenced by the trade-off between the cost and benefit of obtaining more information, although not always in the way specified by normative analyses. In studies of information combination a contrast is.
