The theory of decision making

Abstract

This literature review of decision making (how people make choices among desirable alternatives), culled from the disciplines of psychology, economics, and mathematics, covers the theory of riskless choices, the application of the theory of riskless choices to welfare economics, the theory of risky choices, transitivity of choices, and the theory of games and statistical decision functions. The theories surveyed assume rational behavior: individuals have transitive preferences ("... if A is preferred to B, and B is preferred to C, then A is preferred to C."), choosing from among alternatives in order to "... maximize utility or expected utility." 209-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1954 American Psychological Association.