A Theoretical Framework for Alternative Models of Spatial Decision and Behavior

Abstract

As research into human spatial behavior diversifies and progresses, the accumulation of empirical findings seems to outpace the opportunities for conceptual organization in the field. This state of affairs is common in some newer areas of science where classical patterns of explanation are no longer found to be achievable or even relevant. In the quest for conceptual frameworks that would help make sense of research developments defying familiar modes of theorizing, many of these “sciences of complexity'’have turned to formal theories of modeling for logical integration and insight. Addressing a similar apparent need in behavioral geography, this paper outlines a framework derived from discrete model theory that clarifies the relationships between three seemingly different types of models of spatial choice (based on the principles of stimulus-response, rational choice, and cognitive information processing). Several general questions of interest to behavioral modelers may be approached in the context of that framework, which could contribute to some of the ongoing empirical work in the field a useful theoretical dimension.

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