Abstract
Binary comparison operators form the basis of consumer set theory. When finding the preferred item from a set, humans frequently use a binary comparison operator. If humans could only perform binary comparisons, however, then any procedure a human might employ to make a complete preference ordering of n items would be bound from below in both cost and time by O(n log2, n). Experimental evidence indicates that humans are capable of implementing a linear algorithm for small sets. This indicates that humans have an ordinal utility function.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Norman, A. et al. (1997). Ordering: Human versus Computer. In: Amman, H., Rustem, B., Whinston, A. (eds) Computational Approaches to Economic Problems. Advances in Computational Economics, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2644-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2644-2_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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