Why Unexpectedly Positive Experiences Make Decision Makers More Optimistic: An Explanation

Authors

Andrzej Pownuk, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Vladik Kreinovich, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow

Publication Date

1-2017

Comments

Technical Report: UTEP-CS-17-01

To appear in Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Constraint Programming and Decision Making CoProd'2017, El Paso, Texas, November 3, 2017.

Abstract

Experiments show that unexpectedly positive experiences make decision makers more optimistic. However, there seems to be no convincing explanation for this experimental fact. In this paper, we show that this experimental phenomenon can be naturally explained within the traditional utility-based decision theory.