Risk-Sensitive Decision Making Examined Within an Evolutionary Framework

Two examples of human decision-making biases are reexamined from an evolutionary perspective. The framing effect and ambiguity avoidance effect both violate core assumptions of normative models of rational decision making. These violations were often used to showcase that the human mind is predisposed against optimal decision making. The authors argue that the human mind is fine-tuned to solve complex decision tasks that had been recurrent in hominid evolution. By studying the biases within the framework of risk-sensitivity theory, they demonstrate that humans take into account the mean outcome of an option, the variability of the outcome, and their current goal to arrive at a decision that is most likely to guarantee survival. Thus, an evolutionary approach helps us reveal important features of human choice behavior and provides insights into the nature of human decision rationality.