Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 4 edition (October 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521680433
• ISBN-13: 978-0521680431
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews(6 customer reviews)

  6 Reviews 5 star: (5) 4 star: (0) 3 star: (0) 2 star: (1) 1 star: (0) ? See all 6 customer reviews...

• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #362,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Decisions, decisions, decisions, December 14, 2002 By John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Thinking and Deciding (Paperback) This is a _very_ impressive book. I can't imagine a more thorough overview of the study of human judgment, decisionmaking, and rationality.It's hard to find a good single volume in this field. For the psychology of judgment and decisionmaking, there's Scott Plous's excellent book of that title. For the heuristics on which we seem to rely and the biases they seem to generate, there's the modern classic _Judgment Under Uncertainty_ by (the late) Amos Tversky and (recent Nobel prize winner) Daniel Kahneman. And there are other books devoted to special topics and subtopics. But so far as I know, this is the only broad, general introduction to the entire field of thinking, how we do it, how we probably ought to do it, and the sorts of things we do it about. The book is divided into three broad sections. "Thinking In General" covers just that: what thinking is, and the nature of rationality and logic. "Probability and Belief" introduces not only probability theory (including, importantly, Bayes's Theorem) but the various theories about what probability _is_, as well as hypothesis testing, correlation, and "actively open-minded thinking." The largest section, "Decisions and Plans," is eleven chapters long and covers everything else: uncertainty, utility, decision analysis, theories of morality fairness, and justice, and risk. As you might imagine, Baron doesn't leave too many stones unturned. Heck, his bibliography alone is thirty-odd pages long. The book is eminently readable. The third edition is aimed mainly at graduate students but I gather Baron still uses it in his undergraduate courses. If you're a lay reader interested in this field, you'll be able to read it on your own with no difficulty. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews    Was this review helpful to you?  [url=][/url] [url=][/url] Report this | Permalink Comment Comment

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to Decision Theory, August 29, 2001 By James Vornov (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Thinking and Deciding (Paperback) This is the first book I recommend to anyone interested in learning how to think and decide better. It is both an exploration of the usual way we think (and the mistakes we make) as well as a contruction of a toolkit for better thinking. It's well written and is at the level of an advanced undergraduate liberal arts course. Not too technical and mathematics oriented, but covers the concepts with rigor in an intuitive way. A good preparation for more technically oriented investigations of the subject. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews    Was this review helpful to you?  [url=][/url] [url=][/url] Report this | Permalink Comment Comment