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Decision Theory and Decision Behaviour

Normative and Descriptive Approaches

  • Book
  • © 1989

Overview

Authors:
  1. Anatol Rapoport

    1. University of Toronto, Canada

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Part of the book series: Theory and Decision Library B (TDLB, volume 15)

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Table of contents (22 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 1-7

  3. Decisions Involving a Single Actor

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9
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    2. Orders and Scales

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 11-24

    3. Optimization

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 25-54

    4. Decisions under Uncertainty

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 55-67

    5. Decisions under Risk

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 68-96

    6. Subjective Aspects of Risk

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 97-121

    7. Multi-Objective Decisions

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 122-142

    8. Theory of Social Choice

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 143-158

    9. Individual Psychology of Decision-Making

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 159-174

  4. Non-Cooperative Games

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-175
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    2. Two-Person Constant Sum Games

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 177-196

    3. Some Topics in Continuous Games

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 197-215

    4. Two-Person Non-Constant Sum Games

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 216-236

    5. Psychological Pressures in Non-Cooperative Games

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 237-251

    6. Theory of Voting

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 252-269

    7. Social Traps

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 270-288

  5. Collective Decisions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 289-289
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    2. Two-Person Cooperative Games

      • Anatol Rapoport
      Pages 291-316
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Keywords

About this book

This book presents the content of a year's course in decision processes for third and fourth year students given at the University of Toronto. A principal theme of the book is the relationship between normative and descriptive decision theory. The distinction between the two approaches is not clear to everyone, yet it is of great importance. Normative decision theory addresses itself to the question of how people ought to make decisions in various types of situations, if they wish to be regarded (or to regard themselves) as 'rational'. Descriptive decision theory purports to describe how people actually make decisions in a variety of situations. Normative decision theory is much more formalized than descriptive theory. Especially in its advanced branches, normative theory makes use of mathematicallanguage, mode of discourse, and concepts. For this reason, the definitions of terms encountered in normative decision theory are precise, and its deductions are rigorous. Like the terms and assertions of other branches of mathematics, those of mathematically formalized decision theory need not refer to anything in the 'real', i. e. the observable, world. The terms and assertions can be interpreted in the context of models of real li fe situations, but the verisimilitude of the models is not important. They are meant to capture only the essentials of adecision situation, which in reallife may be obscured by complex details and ambiguities. It is these details and ambiguities, however, that may be crucial in determining the outcomes of the decisions.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Toronto, Canada

    Anatol Rapoport

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Decision Theory and Decision Behaviour

  • Book Subtitle: Normative and Descriptive Approaches

  • Authors: Anatol Rapoport

  • Series Title: Theory and Decision Library B

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7840-0

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 1989

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-0297-1Published: 30 November 1989

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-4047-3Published: 06 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-7840-0Published: 14 March 2013

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 436

  • Topics: Operations Research/Decision Theory

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