1. THE CONCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION OF CHOICE BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.
- Author
-
Rainio, Kullervo
- Subjects
SOCIAL interaction ,BEHAVIORAL assessment ,CHOICE (Psychology) ,MATHEMATICAL models ,STOCHASTIC processes ,PROBABILITY theory - Abstract
In the behavioral sciences the gap between those who try to use generally solvable mathematical models in describing the problems and those who try somehow to understand behavioral processes by simulating them--using some exact rules, usually computer programs--is getting wider and wider. It is easy to criticize the "model-makers" for the lack of any large application field for their constructs and for the oversimplifications they have made in order to get the mathematical problem solvable in practical terms, oversimplifications which often raise the question whether there are any interesting applications at all from the point of view of the serious researcher in the social science concerned. This study is an attempt to show one possible way of constructing a theory in social psychology based on as few concepts and as few assumptions as possible, while still trying to cover equally the different problem areas. One must make a tremendous number of risky decisions between different alternatives in forming such a system on this level of knowledge. Many of them may be wrong.
- Published
- 1970
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