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Discarding optimality: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

Patrick Simen  and
Fuat Balcı
Patrick Simen
Affiliation:
Neuroscience Department, Oberlin College, OH 44074. psimen@oberlin.eduhttp://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/psimen/
Fuat Balcı
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology & Research Center for Translational Medicine, Koç University, 34450 Sarıyer/Istanbul, Turkey. fbalci@ku.edu.trhttps://tmdmlab.ku.edu.tr/
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Abstract

Rahnev & Denison (R&D) argue against normative theories and in favor of a more descriptive “standard observer model” of perceptual decision making. We agree with the authors in many respects, but we argue that optimality (specifically, reward-rate maximization) has proved demonstrably useful as a hypothesis, contrary to the authors’ claims.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e243
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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