What changes when the words change?
A cup containing 250mL of water and a 400mL cup with 150mL of empty space describe the same state. The wording draws attention to different parts. This game lets you inspect those descriptions side by side.
Where the idea comes from
Framing concerns the relationship between how a decision problem is presented and the choices people make. Tversky and Kahneman’s 1981 paper presents examples of preferences changing with the formulation of a problem. It is a conceptual source, not validation of this site’s questions or result.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice. Science, 211(4481), 453–458. DOI: 10.1126/science.7455683 · PubMed record
What this game does
Six original everyday scenarios appear in two rounds. After the first set, you see the same situations in different words. The available actions do not change within a pair. Neither do the cup capacity, lamp price, seat count, or other conditions.
The numeric seed in a link determines the scenario order and which wording appears first. The same seed and length reproduce the same sequence. Six-pair mode balances the two first-wording types three to three; three-pair mode uses two of one type and one of the other. The second round follows the same scenario order. This reproducibility feature does not randomly assign people to research groups.
Reading the result
A pair is compared only when both versions have an answer. Choosing different actions counts as a changed pair. For example, two changes among six complete pairs produce “2 of 6.” A pair with either choice skipped is excluded from the denominator. Skipping everything produces 0/0, meaning there are no completed pairs to compare.
What the result cannot tell you
The set is small and fixed, and you can remember earlier choices. Order, translation, interpretation, fatigue, chance, and opening the fact explanation can all matter. This result alone cannot establish that wording caused a change.
More changes do not mean you are less rational. No changes do not mean you have no biases. The game does not measure personality, intelligence, mental health, morality, or real-world decision quality. There are no rankings, population averages, or percentiles.
Inspect the facts whenever you like
Every question has “Check the matching facts now.” You do not need to guess a hidden answer to continue. Use the two descriptions as a conversation starter: which part did you notice first?