... account for response patterns exhibited in empirical investigations of cognitive processes. Normative models embody standards of cognitive activity, if these standards are met; they suggest that optimum accuracy and efficiency are achieved, for deductive reasoning normative models would measure individuals' performance in reasoning tasks against logical answers. Prescriptive models accept the limitations of the cognitive system, and prescribe the best method of solution based on our limited system. Given these three positions there are still two possible answers to the question 'Are humans rational?' Taking a normative standpoint would result in the answer 'no'; assuming the prescriptive approach would also result in a 'no' answer, if however you adopted the descriptive position then you would assume that humans are rational. The first two positions require a standard by which to measure behaviour, and as a consequence human behaviour does not always follow the principles of logic and is deemed irrational. ...

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