Decision Theory and Decision Behaviour [Paperback]

The book treats two approaches to decision theory: (1) the normative, purporting to determine how a 'perfectly rational' actor ought to choose among available alternatives; (2) the descriptive, based on observations of how people actually choose in real life and in laboratory experiments. The mathematical tools used in the normative approach range from elementary algebra to matrix and differential equations. Sections on different levels can be studied independently. Special emphasis is made on 'offshoots' of both theories to cognitive psychology, theoretical biology, and philosophy.Preface - Preface to the Second Revised Edition - Introduction: An Overview of Decision Theory - Orders and Scales - Optimization - Decisions Under Uncertainty and Risk - Subjective Aspects of Risk - Generalizations of Expected Utility Theory - Multi-Objective Decisions - Theory of Social Choice - Individual Psychology of Decision-Making -Two-Person Constant Sum Games - Some Topics in Continuous Games - Two-Person Non-Constant Sum Games - Social Dilemmas - Applications of Game Theory in Biology - Theory of Voting - Two-Person Cooperative Games - N-Person Cooperative Games - The Allocation Problem - Indices of Power - Theories of Coalition Formation - Game-Theoretic Concepts in Economics - Psychology of Collective Decision - Concluding Remarks - Notes - Appendix - ReferencesANATOL RAPOPORT