At the Junction of Mathematics and Psychology: Cognitive Orientation of the Ahp/Anp and New Perspectives of Structuring Complexity

Abstract

This paper aims to draw attention to the interdisciplinary research of the AHP/ANP methodology by emphasizing how it can be studied from a cognitive perspective. We provide an overview of the main cognitive approaches in decision-making, and consider different heuristics that lie at the basis of pairwise comparisons. We emphasize that the AHP/ANP must be considered at the junction of mathematics and psychology, and for further development of the methodology, we should examine the AHP/ANP from the cognitive point of view. We review the recent experimental studies of the AHP/ANP that test human behavior in real decision problems. We also discuss the future applicability of the AHP/ANP methodology in the Experience Age - the age of not only digital information and knowledge, but also behavior. This article is just a small step on the way to discovering the cognitive aspects and future extensions of decision making with the AHP/ANP.