Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making

Front Cover
SAGE, Apr 13, 2001 - Business & Economics - 372 pages
First Edition, Winner of the prestigious William James Award from the American Psychological Association

An understanding of the principles of rational decision making can help students improve the quality of their lives. Intended as an introductory textbook, the material in Rational Choice in an Uncertain World is not only of scholarly interest, but practical as well. Created specifically for courses on judgement and decision-making, this book makes research readily accessible to both undergraduate and graduate students. This Second Edition of the award-winning book, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World (1988) by Robyn M. Dawes, is sure to interest and enlighten students at all levels.

This new edition features:

· New student friendly chapter introductions as well as conclusions and cross-references between chapters.

· Award-winning authors are respected professors with over 30 years of experience in the field.

· Practical, everyday examples from such areas as finance, medicine, law, and engineering.

· Comprehensive and up-to-date information keep this edition abreast of the changing ideas within the discipline

· Additional discussion of the descriptive, psychological models of decision making to expand upon the original emphasis on normative, rational, `Expected Utility Theory′ models.

Equipped with this knowledge and an understanding of the principles of rational decision making, both undergraduate and graduate students can help improve the quality of their choices and, thus, their life.

 

Contents

Thinking and Deciding
1
A General Framework for Judgment
3
Judgments From Memory
73
227
97
Anchoring and Adjustment
99
Judging by Scenarios and Explanations
129
Thinking About Randomness and Causation
153
Thinking Rationally About Uncertainty
169
A Normative Rational Decision Theory
249
A Descriptive Psychological Decision Theory
289
In Praise of Uncertainty
313
The Principles of Probability Theory
339
Beliefs That Violate the Principles of Probability Theory
347
Index
357
Judgment by Similarity
366
About the Authors
371

Simple Values
199
Complex Values and Attitudes
231

Common terms and phrases