The Mathematics Enthusiast Volume 12 Number 1 Numbers 1, 2, & 3 Article 8 6-2015 Understanding Risk Through Board Games Joshua T. Hertel Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme Part of the Mathematics Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Hertel, Joshua T. (2015) "Understanding Risk Through Board Games," The Mathematics Enthusiast: Vol. 12 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme/vol12/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mathematics Enthusiast by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. TME, vol. 12, no. 1,2&3, p. 38 Understanding Risk Through Board Games Joshua T. Hertel University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, USA Abstract: In this article, I describe a potential avenue for investigating individual’s understanding of and reactions to risk using the medium of board games. I first discuss some challenges that researchers face in studying risk situations. Connecting to the existing probabilistic reasoning literature, I then present a rationale for using board games to model these situations. Following this, I draw upon intuition and dual-process theory to outline an integrated theoretical perspective for such investigations. The article concludes with two vignettes demonstrating how this perspective might be used to analyze thinking about risk in a board game setting. Keywords: risk, probabilistic reasoning, intuition, dual-process theory, board games. Within our information-driven society, understanding and making decisions about risk has become important for personal and professional success.