[POLI 244] - Final Exam Guide - Ultimate 95 pages long Study Guide!
29 Nov 2016
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Basically: jervis challenges the rational-choice view of international relations by arguing that misperception can undermine the real-world accuracy of game theoretic models. Decision makers tend to fit incoming information into their existing theories and images. It is easier to integrate contradicting information into your image if it comes bit-by-bit rather than all at once. So deliver it all at once, as a fully-formed competing theory that must be reckoned with. Misperception is easiest to correct if an actor is miscategorised: the category exists in your head, ex. Britain was aware of the category of expansionist states, but it didn"t think. Hitler belonged in it: it is hardest to correct if your mind completely lacks a certain category, ex. China in the 19th century didn"t know what to make of the west. If the sender of a message has something different on his mind than the receiver does, misunderstanding is likely.
