Building a New Rationality from the New Cognitive Neuroscience

McCubbins, Colin H.; McCubbins, Mathew D.; Turner, Mark B.

Building a New Rationality from the New Cognitive Neuroscience

in Riccardo Viale and Konstantinos Katsikopoulos (eds.) Handbook on Bounded Rationality, Routledge Publishing House (Forthcoming)

Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2018-52

20 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2018

See all articles by Colin H. McCubbins

Mathew D. McCubbins

Department of Political Science and Law School, Duke University

Mark B. Turner

Case Western Reserve University - Department of Cognitive Science

Date Written: July 9, 2018

Abstract

Game theory is explicitly a theory of how human minds operate. Game theory, however, fails comprehensively as a predictor of human behavior. The failure of game theory is attributable to its mistaken theory of mind. This theory of mind was derived from notions and models of cognitive neuroscience that have since been abandoned and replaced. To build a new theory of choice, we propose a new theory of mind, one drawn from modern cognitive neuroscience. We then outline an alternative notion of rationality, based on this new theory of mind.

Keywords: Game theory, neuroscience, cognitive science, theory of mind, behavioral game theory

JEL Classification: A12, C72, D70, D81, D83, D87, D91

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

McCubbins, Colin H. and McCubbins, Mathew D. and Turner, Mark B., Building a New Rationality from the New Cognitive Neuroscience (July 9, 2018). in Riccardo Viale and Konstantinos Katsikopoulos (eds.) Handbook on Bounded Rationality, Routledge Publishing House (Forthcoming); Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2018-52. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3210874