Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging

How do mushroom foragers make safe and efficient decisions under uncertainty, or deal with the genuine risks of misidentification and poisoning? This article is an inquiry into ecological rationality, heuristics, perception, and decision-making in mushroom foraging. By surveying 894 Finnish mushroom...

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Main Author: Roope O. Kaaronen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2020-09-01
Series:Judgment and Decision Making
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.sjdm.org/20/200330/jdm200330.pdf
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author Roope O. Kaaronen
author_facet Roope O. Kaaronen
author_sort Roope O. Kaaronen
collection DOAJ
description How do mushroom foragers make safe and efficient decisions under uncertainty, or deal with the genuine risks of misidentification and poisoning? This article is an inquiry into ecological rationality, heuristics, perception, and decision-making in mushroom foraging. By surveying 894 Finnish mushroom foragers, this article illustrates how socially learned rules of thumb and heuristics are used in mushroom foraging, and how simple heuristics are often complemented by more complex and intuitive decision-making. The results illustrate how traditional foraging cultures have evolved precautionary heuristics to deal with uncertainties and poisonous species, and how foragers develop selective attention through experience. The study invites us to consider whether other human foraging cultures might use heuristics similarly, how and why such traditions have culturally evolved, and whether early hunter-gatherers might have used simple heuristics to deal with uncertainty.
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spelling doaj.art-87f1f408050049ff8ce86e976e7f63652023-09-02T22:17:39ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752020-09-01155630647Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foragingRoope O. KaaronenHow do mushroom foragers make safe and efficient decisions under uncertainty, or deal with the genuine risks of misidentification and poisoning? This article is an inquiry into ecological rationality, heuristics, perception, and decision-making in mushroom foraging. By surveying 894 Finnish mushroom foragers, this article illustrates how socially learned rules of thumb and heuristics are used in mushroom foraging, and how simple heuristics are often complemented by more complex and intuitive decision-making. The results illustrate how traditional foraging cultures have evolved precautionary heuristics to deal with uncertainties and poisonous species, and how foragers develop selective attention through experience. The study invites us to consider whether other human foraging cultures might use heuristics similarly, how and why such traditions have culturally evolved, and whether early hunter-gatherers might have used simple heuristics to deal with uncertainty.http://journal.sjdm.org/20/200330/jdm200330.pdfbounded rationality ecological rationality expertise foraging heuristics mushroom huntingnakeywords
spellingShingle Roope O. Kaaronen
Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
Judgment and Decision Making
bounded rationality
ecological rationality
expertise
foraging
heuristics
mushroom huntingnakeywords
title Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
title_full Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
title_fullStr Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
title_full_unstemmed Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
title_short Mycological rationality: Heuristics, perception and decision-making in mushroom foraging
title_sort mycological rationality heuristics perception and decision making in mushroom foraging
topic bounded rationality
ecological rationality
expertise
foraging
heuristics
mushroom huntingnakeywords
url http://journal.sjdm.org/20/200330/jdm200330.pdf
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