Artour N. Lebedev (1996) About Human Choice in Lefebvre's Model . Psycoloquy: 7(28) Human Choice (9)
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Psycoloquy 7(28): About Human Choice in Lefebvre's Model

ABOUT HUMAN CHOICE IN LEFEBVRE'S MODEL
Reply to Lefebvre on Human-Choice

Artour N. Lebedev
Institute of Psychology
Russian Academy of Sciences

lebedev@labmp.msk.ru

Abstract

There is no need to use a number of axioms to explain the phenomenon of the "golden section" (0.618) in human binary choice. This parameter reflects the mean value of the majority of voices under conditions of uncertainty. A random distribution of choices -- which may be equiprobable (rectangular), needle-like, or, in the most common case, near-Gaussian (bell shaped) -- determines the mean value of dominant choices which differ just slightly from the "golden section". The negligible difference is about one per cent. Lefebvre's axiomatic theory stimulates the search for general quantitative regularities in human choice. The search, which is based on neurophysiological data like ours, is an alternative one. It explains certain peculiarities of random choice distributions.

Keywords

choice; computation; decision theory; ethical cognition; mathematical psychology; model building; parameter estimation; probability; rationality.

References