ABSTRACT
Life is about decisions. You may not be aware that you are making decisions every second, big or small. There are two distinctive decision approaches: descriptive and normative decision theories. Descriptive decision making considers a decision as a specific information processing process; it is a study of the cognitive processes that lead to decisions, for example, the ways humans deal with conflicts or perceive the values of the solutions. Descriptive decision making looks for explanations for the ways individuals or groups of individuals arrive at decisions so that methods can be developed for influencing and guiding the decision process. Normative decision making considers a decision as a rational act of choice under the viable alternatives. It is a mathematical or statistical theory for modeling decision-making processes. Classical decision-making theory and Bayesian decision theory fall into this category. Normative decision making strives to make the optimal decision, given the available information. Hence, it is an optimization approach.
