2,378
Views
48
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Review

Why humans are (sometimes) less rational than other animals: Cognitive complexity and the axioms of rational choice

Pages 1-26 | Received 22 Mar 2012, Accepted 03 Jul 2012, Published online: 24 Sep 2012

References

  • Alcock , J. 2005 . Animal behavior: An evolutionary approach , 8th ed. , Sunderland, MA : Sinauer Associates .
  • Allais , M. 1953 . Le comportement de l'homme rationnel devant le risque: Critique des postulats et axioms de l'école americaine . Econometrica , 21 : 503 – 546 .
  • Anderson , E. 1993 . Value in ethics and economics , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press .
  • Arkes , H. R. and Ayton , P. 1999 . The sunk cost and Concorde effects: Are humans less rational than lower animals? . Psychological Bulletin , 125 : 591 – 600 .
  • Arrow , K. J. 1982 . Risk perception in psychology and economics . Economic Inquiry , 20 : 1 – 9 .
  • Bachman , P. and Cannon , T. D. 2005 . “ Cognitive and neuroscience aspects of thought disorder ” . In The Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning , Edited by: Holyoak , K. J. and Morrison , R. G. 493 – 526 . New York : Cambridge University Press .
  • Barkow , J. H. 1989 . Darwin, sex, and status: Biological approaches to mind and culture , Toronto : University of Toronto Press .
  • Baron , J. 1993 . Morality and rational choice , Dordrecht : Kluwer .
  • Baron , J. 1998 . Judgement misguided: Intuition and error in public decision making , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Baron , J. and Leshner , S. 2000 . How serious are expressions of protected values? . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied , 6 : 183 – 194 .
  • Baron , J. and Spranca , M. 1997 . Protected values . Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 70 : 1 – 16 .
  • Bartels , D. M. and Medin , D. L. 2007 . Are morally-motivated decision makers insensitive to the consequences of their choices? . Psychological Science , 18 : 24 – 28 .
  • Bateson , M. , Healy , S. D. and Hurly , A. 2002 . Irrational choices in hummingbird foraging behaviour . Animal Behaviour , 63 : 587 – 596 .
  • Bateson , M. , Healy , S. D. and Hurly , A. 2003 . Context-dependent foraging decisions in rufous hummingbirds . Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) B , 270 : 1271 – 1276 .
  • Bazerman , M. , Tenbrunsel , A. and Wade-Benzoni , K. 1998 . Negotiating with yourself and losing: Understanding and managing conflicting internal preferences . Academy of Management Review , 23 : 225 – 241 .
  • Bell , D. E. 1982 . Regret in decision making under uncertainty . Operations Research , 30 : 961 – 981 .
  • Bermudez , J. L. 2009 . Decision theory and rationality , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Bratman , M. E. 2003 . Autonomy and hierarchy . Social Philosophy & Policy , 20 : 156 – 176 .
  • Broome , J. 1990 . “ Should a rational agent maximise expected utility? ” . In The limits of rationality , Edited by: Cook , K. S. and Levi , M. 132 – 145 . Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
  • Broome , J. 1991 . Weighing goods: Equality, uncertainty, and time , Oxford, UK : Blackwell .
  • Camerer , C. F. and Fehr , E. 2006 . When does “economic man” dominate social behavior? . Science , 311 : 47 – 52 .
  • Carruthers , P. 2002 . The cognitive functions of language . Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 25 : 657 – 726 .
  • Carruthers , P. 2006 . The architecture of the mind , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Clark , A. 1997 . Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again , Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .
  • Cooper , W. S. 1989 . How evolutionary biology challenges the classical theory of rational choice . Biology and Philosophy , 4 : 457 – 481 .
  • Dawes , R. M. 1998 . “ Behavioral decision making and judgement ” . In The handbook of social psychology , Edited by: Gilbert , D. T. , Fiske , S. T. and Lindzey , G. 497 – 548 . Boston : McGraw-Hill .
  • Dawkins , R. 1982 . The extended phenotype , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Dehghani , M. , Atran , S. , Iliev , R. , Sachdeva , S. , Medin , D. and Ginges , J. 2010 . Sacred values and conflict over Iran’s nuclear program . Judgement and Decision Making , 5 : 540 – 546 .
  • Dennett , D. C. 1991 . Consciousness explained , Boston : Little Brown .
  • Dennett , D. C. 1996 . Kinds of minds: Toward an understanding of consciousness , New York : Basic Books .
  • Denzau , A. T. and North , D. C. 1994 . Shared mental models: Ideologies and institutions . Kyklos , 47 : 3 – 31 .
  • Dienes , Z. and Perner , J. 1999 . A theory of implicit and explicit knowledge . Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 22 : 735 – 808 .
  • Dukas , R. , ed. 1998 . Cognitive ecology: The evolutionary ecology of information processing and decision making , Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
  • Dworkin , G. 1988 . The theory and practice of autonomy , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Edwards , W. 1954 . The theory of decision making . Psychological Bulletin , 51 : 380 – 417 .
  • Elster , J. 1983 . Sour grapes: Studies in the subversion of rationality , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. 2003 . In two minds: Dual-process accounts of reasoning . Trends in Cognitive Sciences , 7 : 454 – 459 .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. 2008 . Dual-processing accounts of reasoning, judgement, and social cognition . Annual Review of Psychology , 59 : 255 – 278 .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. 2010 . Thinking twice: Two minds in one brain , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. and Over , D. E. 1999 . Explicit representations in hypothetical thinking . Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 22 : 763 – 764 .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. and Over , D. E. 2004 . If , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Evans , J. St. B. T. and Stanovich , K. E. Dual-process theories of higher cognition: Advancing the debate . Perspectives in Psychological Science , in press
  • Fantino , E. and Stolarz-Fantino , S. 2005 . Decision-making: Context matters . Behavioural Processes , 69 : 165 – 171 .
  • Fishburn , P. C. 1981 . Subjective expected utility: A review of normative theories . Theory and Decision , 13 : 139 – 199 .
  • Fishburn , P. C. 1999 . “ The making of decision theory ” . In Decision science and technology: Reflections on the contributions of Ward Edwards , Edited by: Shanteau , J. , Mellers , B. A. and Schum , D. A. Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers .
  • Flanagan , O. 1996 . Self expressions: Mind, morals, and the meaning of life , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Frankfurt , H. 1971 . Freedom of the will and the concept of a person . Journal of Philosophy , 68 : 5 – 20 .
  • Frankfurt , H. 1982 . The importance of what we care about . Synthese , 53 : 257 – 272 .
  • Gauthier , D. 1975 . Reason and maximisation . Canadian Journal of Philosophy , 4 : 411 – 433 .
  • Gauthier , D. 1986 . Morals by agreement , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Gigerenzer , G. 1994 . “ Why the distinction between single-event probabilities and frequencies is important for psychology (and vice versa) ” . In Subjective probability , Edited by: Wright , G. and Ayton , P. 129 – 161 . Chichester, UK : John Wiley & Sons .
  • Gilboa , I. 2010 . Rational choice , Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press .
  • Hargreaves Heap , S. P. 1992 . Rationality and economics , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Harman , G. 1993 . “ Desired desires ” . In Value, welfare, and morality , Edited by: Frey , R. G. and Morris , C. W. 138 – 157 . Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Hirschman , A. O. 1986 . Rival views of market society and other recent essays , New York : Viking .
  • Hollis , M. 1992 . “ Ethical preferences ” . In The theory of choice: A critical guide , Edited by: Hargreaves Heap , S. , Hollis , M. , Lyons , B. , Sugden , R. and Weale , A. 308 – 310 . Oxford, UK : Blackwell .
  • Houston , A. I. 1997 . Natural selection and context-dependent values . Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) B , 264 : 1539 – 1541 .
  • Hurley , S. 1989 . Natural reasons: Personality and polity , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Hurley , S. and Nudds , M. 2006 . Rational animals? , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Jeffrey , R. 1974 . Preferences among preferences . Journal of Philosophy , 71 : 377 – 391 .
  • Jeffrey , R. C. 1983 . The logic of decision (2nd ed.) , Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
  • Jensen , K. , Call , J. and Tomasello , M. 2007 . Chimpanzees are rational maximisers in an ultimatum game . Science , 318 : 107 – 109 .
  • Kacelnik , A. 2006 . “ Meanings of rationality ” . In Rational animals? , Edited by: Hurley , S. and Nudds , M. 87 – 106 . Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Kagel , C. J. 1987 . “ Economics according to the rats (and pigeons too): What have we learned and what we hope to learn ” . In Laboratory experimentation in economics: Six points of view , Edited by: Roth , A. 587 – 703 . New York : Cambridge University Press .
  • Kahneman , D. 1994 . New challenges to the rationality assumption . Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics , 150 : 18 – 36 .
  • Kahneman , D. 2011 . Thinking, fast and slow , New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux .
  • Kahneman , D. and Tversky , A. 1979 . Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk . Econometrica , 47 : 263 – 291 .
  • Kahneman , D. and Tversky , A. 1984 . Choices, values, and frames . American Psychologist , 39 : 341 – 350 .
  • Kahneman , D. and Tversky , A. , eds. 2000 . Choices, values, and frames , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Keys , D. J. and Schwartz , B. 2007 . “Leaky” rationality: How research on behavioral decision making challenges normative standards of rationality . Perspectives on Psychological Science , 2 : 162 – 180 .
  • Knoch , D. , Pascual-Leone , A. , Meyer , K. , Treyer , V. and Fehr , E. 2006 . Diminishing reciprocal fairness by disrupting the right prefrontal cortex . Science , 314 : 829 – 832 .
  • Koehler , D. J. and James , G. 2009 . Probability matching in choice under uncertainty: Intuition versus deliberation . Cognition , 113 : 123 – 127 .
  • Kohler , W. 1927 . The mentality of apes (2nd ed.) , London : Routledge & Kegan Paul .
  • Lakshminarayanan , V. and Santos , L. R. 2009 . Cognitive preconditions for responses to fairness: An object retrieval test of inhibitory control in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) . Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics , 2 : 12 – 20 .
  • Lee , L. , Amir , O. and Ariely , D. 2009 . In search of homo economicus: Cognitive noise and the role of emotion in preference consistency . Journal of Consumer Research , 36 : 173 – 187 .
  • Lehrer , K. 1990 . Theory of knowledge , London : Routledge .
  • Lehrer , K. 1997 . Self-trust: A study of reason, knowledge, and autonomy , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Lewis , D. 1989 . Dispositional theories of value . 63 : 113 – 137 . Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume
  • Lichtenstein , S. and Slovic , P. 2006 . The construction of preference , Cambridge, MA : Cambridge University Press .
  • Loomes , G. , Starmer , C. and Sugden , R. 1991 . Observing violations of transitivity by experimental methods . Econometrica , 59 : 425 – 439 .
  • Loomes , G. and Sugden , R. 1982 . Regret theory: An alternative theory of rational choice under uncertainty . The Economic Journal , 92 : 805 – 824 .
  • Luce , R. D. and Raiffa , H. 1957 . Games and decisions , New York : Wiley .
  • Maher , P. 1993 . Betting on theories , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • McFadden , D. 1999 . Rationality for economists? . Journal of Risk and Uncertainty , 19 : 73 – 105 .
  • Medin , D. L. and Bazerman , M. H. 1999 . Broadening behavioral decision research: Multiple levels of cognitive processing . Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 6 : 533 – 546 .
  • Medin , D. L. , Schwartz , H. C. , Blok , S. V. and Birnbaum , L. A. 1999 . The semantic side of decision making . Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 6 : 562 – 569 .
  • Msetfi , R. M. , Murphy , R. A. , Simpson , J. and Kornbrot , D. 2005 . Depressive realism and outcome density bias in contingency judgements: The effect of the context and intertrial interval . Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 134 : 10 – 22 .
  • Neumann , P. J. and Politser , P. E. 1992 . “ Risk and optimality ” . In Risk-taking behavior , Edited by: Yates , J. F. 27 – 47 . Chichester, UK : John Wiley .
  • Nichols , S. and Stich , S. P. 2003 . Mindreading: An integrated account of pretence, self-awareness, and understanding other minds , Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Nozick , R. 1993 . The nature of rationality , Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press .
  • Over , D. E. 2002 . “ The rationality of evolutionary psychology ” . In Reason and nature: Essays in the theory of rationality , Edited by: Bermudez , J. L. and Millar , A. 187 – 207 . Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Quattrone , G. and Tversky , A. 1984 . Causal versus diagnostic contingencies: On self-deception and on the voter's illusion . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 46 : 237 – 248 .
  • Penn , D. C. , Holyoak , K. J. and Povinelli , D. J. 2008 . Darwin's mistake: Explaining the discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds . Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 31 : 109 – 178 .
  • Perner , J. 1991 . Understanding the representational mind , Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .
  • Real , L. A. 1991 . Animal choice behavior and the evolution of cognitive architecture . Science , 253 : 980 – 986 .
  • Resnik , M. D. 1987 . Choices: An introduction to decision theory , Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press .
  • Reyna , V. F. 2004 . How people make decisions that involve risk . Current Directions in Psychological Science , 13 : 60 – 66 .
  • Satz , D. and Ferejohn , J. 1994 . Rational choice and social theory . Journal of Philosophy , 9102 : 71 – 87 .
  • Savage , L. J. 1954 . The foundations of statistics , New York : Wiley .
  • Schick , F. 1987 . Rationality: A third dimension . Economics and Philosophy , 3 : 49 – 66 .
  • Schuck-Paim , C. and Kacelnik , A. 2002 . Rationality in risk-sensitive foraging choices by starlings . Animal Behaviour , 64 : 869 – 879 .
  • Schuck-Paim , C. , Pompilio , L. and Kacelnik , A. 2004 . State-dependent decisions cause apparent violations of rationality in animal choice . PLOS Biology , 2 : 2305 – 2315 .
  • Searle , J. R. 2001 . The rationality of action , Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .
  • Sellen , J. , Oaksford , M. and Gray , N. S. 2005 . Schizotypy and conditional reasoning . Schizophrenia Bulletin , 31 : 105 – 116 .
  • Sen , A. 1987 . On ethics & economics , Oxford, UK : Blackwell .
  • Sen , A. 1993 . Internal consistency of choice . Econometrica , 61 : 495 – 521 .
  • Sen , A. 1999 . Development as freedom , New York : Knopf .
  • Sen , A. K. 1977 . Rational fools: A critique of the behavioral foundations of economic theory . Philosophy and Public Affairs , 6 : 317 – 344 .
  • Shafir , E. 1993 . “ Intuitions about rationality and cognition ” . In Rationality: Psychological and philosophical perspectives , Edited by: Manktelow , K. and Over , D. 260 – 283 . London : Routledge .
  • Shafir , S. 1994 . Intransitivity of preferences in honey bees: Support for comparative-evaluation of foraging options . Animal Behavior , 48 : 55 – 67 .
  • Shafir , E. 2003 . Preference, belief, and similarity: Selected writings of Amos Tversky , Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .
  • Shafir , E. and LeBoeuf , R. A. 2002 . Rationality . Annual Review of Psychology , 53 : 491 – 517 .
  • Shafir , E. and Tversky , A. 1995 . “ Decision making ” . In Thinking , Edited by: Smith , E. E. and Osherson , D. N. 77 – 100 . Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press .
  • Skyrms , B. 1996 . The evolution of the social contract , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Slovic , P. 1995 . The construction of preference . American Psychologist , 50 : 364 – 371 .
  • Slovic , P. and Tversky , A. 1974 . Who accepts Savage's axiom? . Behavioral Science , 19 : 368 – 373 .
  • Sperber , D. 2000 . “ Meta-representations in evolutionary perspective ” . In Meta-representations: A multidisciplinary perspective , Edited by: Sperber , D. 117 – 137 . Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press .
  • Stanovich , K. E. 1999 . Who is rational? Studies of individual differences in reasoning , Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc .
  • Stanovich , K. E. 2004 . The robot's rebellion: Finding meaning in the age of Darwin , Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
  • Stanovich , K. E. 2009 . What intelligence tests miss: The psychology of rational thought , New Haven, CT : Yale University Press .
  • Stanovich , K. E. 2011 . Rationality and the reflective mind , New York : Oxford University Press .
  • Starmer , C. 2000 . Developments in non-expected utility theory: The hunt for a descriptive theory of choice under risk . Journal of Economic Literature , 38 : 332 – 382 .
  • Stephens , D. W. and Krebs , J. R. 1986 . Foraging theory , Princeton : Princeton University Press .
  • Sterelny , K. 2001 . The evolution of agency and other essays , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
  • Stewart , N. 2009 . Decision by sampling: The role of the decision environment in risky choice . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , 62 : 1041 – 1062 .
  • Suddendorf , T. and Corballis , M. C. 2007 . The evolution of foresight: What is mental time travel and is it unique to humans? . Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 30 : 299 – 351 .
  • Tan , H. and Yates , J. F. 1995 . Sunk cost effects: The influences of instruction and future return estimates . Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 63 : 311 – 319 .
  • Taylor , C. 1989 . Sources of the self: The making of modern identity , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press .
  • Thaler , R. H. 1980 . Toward a positive theory of consumer choice . Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization , 1 : 39 – 60 .
  • Tversky , A. 1975 . A critique of expected utility theory: Descriptive and normative considerations . Erkenntnis , 9 : 163 – 173 .
  • Tversky , A. and Kahneman , D. 1981 . The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice . Science , 211 : 453 – 458 .
  • Tversky , A. and Kahneman , D. 1986 . Rational choice and the framing of decisions . Journal of Business , 59 : 251 – 278 .
  • Tversky , A. , Slovic , P. and Kahneman , D. 1990 . The causes of preference reversal . American Economic Review , 80 : 204 – 217 .
  • Velleman , J. D. 1992 . What happens when somebody acts? . Mind , 101 : 461 – 481 .
  • von Neumann , J. and Morgenstern , O. 1944 . The theory of games and economic behavior , Princeton : Princeton University Press .
  • Watson , G. 1975 . Free agency . Journal of Philosophy , 72 : 205 – 220 .
  • Wilson , T. D. and Brekke , N. 1994 . Mental contamination and mental correction: Unwanted influences on judgements and evaluations . Psychological Bulletin , 116 : 117 – 142 .
  • Wilson , T. D. and Schooler , J. W. 1991 . Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 60 : 181 – 192 .
  • Wu , G. , Zhang , J. and Gonzalez , R. 2004 . “ Decision under risk ” . In Blackwell handbook of judgement and decision making , Edited by: Koehler , D. J. and Harvey , N. 399 – 423 . Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishing .

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.