Utility and decision strategies: a second look at the rational decision maker

The concept of bounded rationality underlies most behavioral, descriptive decision theory. The implications of limited cognitive capacity have been extensively explored; however, there have been few attempts to understand the means by which decisions made under these constraints remain rational. Some propositions with regard to the ways in which utility considerations guide decision strategies are presented and tested. The results provide some evidence that the decision maker uses strategies that are relatively likely to enhance the utility of the final choice, even when utility maximization is not feasible.