The main article in this years Behavioural and Brain Sciences by Herbert Gintis proposes that "if decision theory and game theory are broadened to encompass other-regarding preferences, they become capable of modeling all aspects of decision making, including those normally considered “psychological,” “sociological,” or “anthropological.” The mind as a decision-making organ will then become the organizing principle of psychology."
"Summing up a quarter century of psychological research in 1995, Paul Slovic asserted, accurately I believe, that “it is now generally recognized among psychologists that utility maximization provides only limited insight into the processes by which decisions are made” (Slovic 1995, p. 365). “People are not logical,” psychologists are fond of saying, “they are psychological.” In this paper I argue precisely the opposite position: people are generally rational, though subject to performance errors. Psychology could be the centerpiece of the human behavioral sciences by providing a general model of decision making for the other behavioral disciplines to use and elaborate for their various purposes. The field fails to hold this position because its core theories do not take the fitness-enhancing character of the human brain, its capacity to make effective decisions in complex environments, as central."
A framework for the unification of the behavioural sciences
1 comment:
This looks like a great debate. I like that distinction between "logical" and "psychological". The similarities in words that we often fail to notice could possibly be quite revelatory...
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