Journal article
A cognitive theory of reasoning and choice
- Abstract:
- We present a theory of choice in which attention to the features of options is determined by the decision maker’s categorization of the current problem in a set of problems she solved in the past. Categorization depends on goal-relevant and contextual problem-level features. The model yields heterogeneity in attention and choice in a given problem based on different past experiences and instability when changes in irrelevant context cause re-categorization. We show that heterogeneous and unstable representations of a choice problem unify major biases in judgment and decision making.
- Publication status:
- Accepted
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 1.5MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1093/qje/qjag023
Authors
+ European Commission
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00k4n6c32
- Grant:
- GA 101097578
- Programme:
- Advanced Grant
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Journal:
- Quarterly Journal of Economics More from this journal
- Article number:
- qjag023
- Publication date:
- 2026-06-05
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-04-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1531-4650
- ISSN:
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0033-5533
- Language:
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English
- Pubs id:
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2405985
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2405985
- Deposit date:
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2026-04-20
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Bordalo et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of President and Fellows of Harvard College. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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