Chapter 16 - The Dynamic Interactions between Situations and Decisions

Summary

Decision analysis is concerned with the development of prescriptive methods for improving difficult real-life decisions. The basic principle is to divide and conquer, a complex decision is broken down into small manageable parts, judgments are made with respect to each part, and small parts are recombined to form an overall evaluation. Sequential-sampling models such as decision-field theory can be viewed as dynamic extensions of the traditional decision theories. Therefore, sequential sampling models provide a theoretical bridge between traditional decision theories and naturalistic decisions. Three related programs of research have examined judgment or decision making through what could be called a situated cognition perspective. Dynamic theories of decision making have the power to explain the basic findings from laboratory experiments, such as context-dependent preferences, as well as new phenomena that arise in the study of naturalistic decisions.