The prospects of dynamic paradigm of psychology of choice

Abstract

A methodological overview of development of the dynamic paradigm, principles of uncertainty, and activity theory as applied to the psychology of decision making or psychology of choice is provided in the paper. Falseness of some dichotomies that have caused methodological discussions, such as whether decision making is best conceptualized as choice or internal activity of choice; whether there is a need to distinguish between a rational and a personal choice is demonstrated. It is argued that there is a need to study decision making in the dynamic paradigm (as opposed to the morphological one) as well as to try to expand the utility of studying psychological mediation of choice. The idea of unity of intellectual and personality-related mediation suggests considering choice as inherently productive while dynamic regulative systems as components of its psychological regulation; these dynamic regulative systems include dynamically emerging hierarchies of different psychological processes.