Rational choice and the structure of the environment.

Simon, H. A.

doi:10.1037/h0042769

Cited by 5,919Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsExperimental Behavioral Economics StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Rational choice and the structure of the environment.

Simon, H. A.·1956·Psychological Review

DOI 10.1037/h0042769

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Abstract

A growing interest in decision making in psychology is evidenced by the recent publication of Edwards ’ review article in the Psychological Bulletin(1) and the Santa Monica Conference volume, Decision Processes (7). In this work, much attention has been focused on the characterization of rational choice, and because the latter topic has been a central concern in economics, the theory of decision making has become a natural meeting ground for psycho-logical and economic theory. A comparative examination of the models of adaptive behavior employed in psychology (e.g., learning theories), and of the models of rational behavior employed in economics, shows that in almost all respects the latter postulate a much greater complexity in the choice mechanisms, and a much larger capacity in the organism for obtaining information and performing computations, than do the former. Moreover, in the limited range of situations where the predictions of the two theories have been compared (see [7, Ch. 9, 10, 18]), the learn-ing theories appear to account for the observed behavior rather better than do the theories of rational behavior. Both from these scanty data and from an examination of the postulates of the

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Tasks that are inherently enjoyable also have high benefit attached to them, as people naturally want to engage with the task.
“Tasks that are inherently enjoyable also have high benefit attached to them, as people naturally want to engage with the task [82].”
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Authors: Simon, H. A.
Affiliations: Carnegie Mellon University (US)
Corresponding author: Simon, H. A.
Venue: Psychological Review
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1956
Volume: 63
Issue: 2
Pages: 129-138
ISSN: 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
1939-1471
DOI: 10.1037/h0042769
OpenAlex: W1989388297
Cited by: 5,919
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 228 · 2025: 323 · 2024: 236 · 2023: 264 · 2022: 313 · 2021: 298 · 2020: 434 · 2019: 313 · 2018: 271 · 2017: 327 · 2016: 290 · 2015: 272 · 2014: 287 · 2013: 243 · 2012: 267
FWCI: 0.00
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords: rational choice, decision-making, learning theory, adaptive behavior, choice mechanisms, information processing capacity
MeSH terms: Choice Behavior, Environment, Humans, Psychology, Thinking

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Rational choice and the structure of the environment.

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