Individual choice behavior

Written by mathematical psychologist R. Duncan Luce, this work builds a formal model of how individuals make choices. It opens by setting out a single general axiom, which serves as the foundation for everything that follows. The book then turns that framework toward concrete areas of study, including psychophysics, the measurement of utility, and the process of learning.

A large part of the discussion concerns competing ways of describing perception and decision. Readers will find an examination of the Fechnerian assumption alongside signal detectability theory, as well as a treatment of utility theory and of stochastic models of behavior. Further topics extend the analysis beyond these core areas.

The text is a mathematical treatment, so it suits students and researchers in psychology, mathematics, and related fields who want a rigorous account of choice. This is a 1959 edition.