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Decision Making: Economic Aspects (1968)

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Economic Information, Decision, and Prediction

Part of the book series: Theory and Decision Library ((TDLU,volume 7-1))

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Abstract

The distinction between prescriptive and descriptive theories of decision is similar to that between logic — a system of formally consistent rules of thought — and the psychology of thinking. A logical rule prescribes, for example, that if you believe all X to be Y, you should also believe that all non-Y are non-X, but not that all Y are X; and if you believe, in addition, that all Y are Z, you should believe all X to be Z (a logical rule known as transitivity of inclusion). Here, X, Y, and Z are objects or propositions. Such prescriptive rules do not state that all people of a given culture, social position, age, and so forth, always comply with them. If, for example, the links in a chain of reasoning are numerous, the rule of transitivity will probably be broken, at least by children or by unschooled or impatient people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Angeles, USA

    Jacob Marschak

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  1. Jacob Marschak
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© 1974 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

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Marschak, J. (1974). Decision Making: Economic Aspects (1968). In: Economic Information, Decision, and Prediction. Theory and Decision Library, vol 7-1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9276-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9276-0_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-277-1195-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-9276-0

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