Decision Theory and Decision Behaviour

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

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.

• cooperative games
• decision theory
• mathematics
• optimization
• social choice

• University of Toronto, Canada

  Anatol Rapoport

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