LINGUISTIC DECISION-MAKING MODELS

Using linguistic values to assess results and information about external factors is quite usual in real decision situations. In this article we present a general model for such problems. Utilities are evaluated in a term set of labels and the information is supposed to be a linguistic evidence, that is, is to be represented by a basic assignment of probability (in the sense of Dempster-Shafer) but taking its values on a term set of linguistic likelihoods. Basic decision rules, based on fuzzy risk intervals, are developed and illustrated by several examples. The last section is devoted to analyzing the suitability of considering a hierarchical structure (represented by a tree) for the set of utility labels.