Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:04:52.253Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Optimality is both elusive and necessary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

Joachim Meyer*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. [email protected]

Abstract

Optimality of any decision, including perceptual decisions, depends on the criteria used to evaluate outcomes and on the assumptions about available alternatives and information. In research settings, these are often difficult to define, and therefore, claims about optimality are equivocal. However, optimality is important in applied settings when evaluating, for example, the detection of abnormalities in medical images.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arrow, K. J. (1958) Utilities, attitudes, choices: A review note. Econometrica 26:123.Google Scholar
Gallistel, C. R. (2005) Deconstructing the law of effect. Games and Economic Behavior 52(2):410–23.Google Scholar
Meyer, J., Wiczorek, R. & Günzler, T. (2014) Measures of reliance and compliance in aided visual scanning. Human Factors 56(5):840–49.Google Scholar