From representation via planning to action: an extension of Egon Brunswik’s Theory of Probabilistic Functionalism

Ulrich Hoffrage ()
Additional contact information
Ulrich Hoffrage: University of Lausanne

Environment Systems and Decisions, 2018, vol. 38, issue 1, 69-73

Abstract: Abstract Scholz (Environ Syst Decis, 2017) proposes how Brunswik’s lens model can be extended to account for planning of sustainable transitions of complex system. In this commentary, an alternative extension is proposed, according to which planning is seen as a process that unfolds in three steps. The first step can be understood with a model construction lens: a planning team builds a representation, that is, a model of a (distal) complex system. In a second step, modeled with a planning lens, the team contrasts its representation of the system with possible alternative states and simulates how the is-state could be transformed into an ought-state. In a third step, modeled with an implementation lens, the team selects and implements a set of actions, thereby leaving the “imaginary space” (Konrad Lorenz) and entering the real world. The commentary also discusses the relationship between the is-state and the ought-state (including the ways to get from one to the other; bottom-up and top-down), the usefulness of integrating research on group processes when modelling the planning phase, and ways to contrast the usefulness of various conceptualizations of the planning process on an empirical basis.

Keywords: Lens model; Probabilistic functionalism; Planning; Complex systems; Group processes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-017-9660-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:38:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10669-017-9660-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/10669

DOI: 10.1007/s10669-017-9660-7

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment Systems and Decisions from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().