Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility

Two core meanings of \2\80\9cutility\2\80\9d are distinguished. \2\80\9cDecision utility\2\80\9d is the weight of an outcome in a decision. \2\80\9cExperienced utility\2\80\9d is hedonic quality, as in Bentham\2\80\99s usage. Experienced utility can be reported in real time (instant utility), or in retrospective evaluations of past episodes (remembered utility). Psychological\ has documented systematic errors in retrospective evaluations, which can induce a preference for dominated options. We propose a formal normative theory of the total experienced utility of temporally extended outcomes. Measuring\ experienced utility of outcomes permits tests of utility maximization and opens other lines of empirical research.