Abstract: An S-shaped value function and a nonlinear weighing function were employed by the prospect theory to explain and predict the framing effect. The choice behaviour under different frames was however simply seen by the equate-to-differentiate model as a choice between the best possible outcomes or a choice between the worst possible outcomes. A "matching" task was designed to re-test some risky problems which had been demonstrated in the author's previous studies to support or to disprove the documented framing effect. It was shown in the present experiment that knowledge of the frame which was used did not permit prediction of option preference, and that the existing evidence in relation to the framing effect could be better accounted for by the equate-to-differentiate strategy (deciding which dimensional difference is to be equated and which is to be differentiated) revealed by the matching results.

Key words: framing effect, prospect theory, equate-to-differentiate theory