 Rational analysis is a methodology applied in cognitive science and biology to explain why a cognitive system or organism engages in a particular behavior by appealing to the presumed goals of the organism, the adaptive pressures of its environment, and the organism’s computational limitations. Once an organism’s goals are identified, the adaptive pressures of its environment specified, and the computational limitations are accounted for, an optimal solution under those conditions is derived to explain why a behavior that is otherwise ineffective may nevertheless be effective in achieving that goal under those conditions (Marr 1982; Anderson 1991; Oaksford &amp; Chater 1994; Palmer 1999). Rational analyses are typically formulated independently of the cognitive processes or biological mechanisms that explain how an organism realizes a behavior.