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This chapter discusses the formulation of an agent-based model to simulate day-to-day dynamics in activity-travel patterns, based on short and long-term adaptations to exogenous and exogenous changes.

The model is based on theoretical considerations of bounded rationality. Agents are able to explore the area, adapt their aspirations and develop habitual behaviour. If they experience dissatisfaction, stress emerges and this may lead to short or long-term adaptations of an agent’s activity-travel patterns. Both cognitive and affective responses are taken into account, when agents evaluate available options. Moreover, memory-activation and forgetting processes play a significant role in the development of habitual behaviour.

Results of numerical simulations show the effect of memory-activation and emotion-related parameters on habit formation, on the decision-making process and on overall model behaviour. Effects of specific aspects of bounded rationality on the evolution of dynamics in the activity-travel patterns of an individual are illustrated. Effects seem realistic, behaviourally rich and, therefore, more sensitive to a larger spectrum of policies.

The model is unique in its kind. It is one of the first attempts to formulate a dynamic model of activity-travel behaviour, based on principle of bounded rationality, which includes both cognitive and affective mechanism of adaptation.

This chapter reviews models of decision-making and choice under conditions of certainty. It allows readers to position the contribution of the other chapters in this book in the historical development of the topic area.

Bounded rationality is defined in terms of a strategy to simplify the decision-making process. Based on this definition, different models are reviewed. These models have assumed that individuals simplify the decision-making process by considering a subset of attributes, and/or a subset of choice alternatives and/or by disregarding small differences between attribute differences.

A body of empirical evidence has accumulated showing that under some circumstances the principle of bounded rationality better explains observed choices than the principle of utility maximization. Differences in predictive performance with utility-maximizing models are however small.

The chapter provides a detailed account of the different models, based on the principle of bounded rationality, that have been suggested over the years in travel behaviour analysis. The potential relevance of these models is articulated, model specifications are discussed and a selection of empirical evidence is presented. Aspects of an agenda of future research are identified.

This chapter focuses on individuals’ mental representations of complex decision problems in transportation. An overview of approaches and techniques in this recent area of research is given as well as an illustration. The illustration concerns an application of CNET (causal network elicitation technique) to measure mental representations in a shopping activity scheduling task. The presence of an online shopping alternative is varied to investigate the influence of an online alternative on how individuals represent the choice problem.

Mental-model and means-ends-chain theories are discussed. These theories state that individuals when faced with a decision problem construct a mental representation of the choice alternatives by activating relevant parts of their broader causal knowledge that allow them to evaluate consequences regarding their existing needs. Furthermore, these theories emphasise that situational and person dependence of this process can explain observed variability in preferences of travellers.

The results indicate that considerable variation exists between individuals in terms of both the complexity, and the attributes and benefits that are activated in the mental representation of the choice problem. Presence of an online alternative has an influence on the benefits that individuals consider important. The impact is however small.

The chapter provides an overview of recent developments in the study of mental representations underlying choice behaviour. Traditionally, this has been the exclusive domain of qualitative research methods. The techniques reviewed enable larger samples and a formal representation of mental representations. Thus, the approach can help to better understand preference heterogeneity and incorporate this in (transport) choice models.