Heuristics is defined as informal, intuitive, speculative strategies that sometimes lead to an effective solution and sometimes do not; mental shortcuts that provide quick estimates about the likelihood of uncertain events

In psychology, heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that people use to make decisions or solve problems more efficiently. Heuristics allow people to process information and make judgments quickly, but they can also lead to biases and errors in judgment.

There are several different types of heuristics that people use in decision-making, including:

  • Availability heuristic: This heuristic involves basing judgments on information that is readily available or easily remembered. For example, an individual might estimate the probability of an event occurring based on how easily they can think of similar events occurring in the past.
  • Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: This heuristic involves making judgments based on an initial starting point or anchor, and then adjusting from there. For example, an individual might make an initial estimate of a value and then adjust that estimate based on additional information. -representativeness heuristic: This heuristic involves making judgments based on how similar something is to a typical or representative example. For example, an individual might judge the probability of an event occurring based on how similar it is to a typical or representative example of that type of event.

Overall, heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that people use to make decisions or solve problems more efficiently, but they can also lead to biases and errors in judgment.

 

Related Articles

Heuristic at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■■■■■■
Heuristic refers to a rule of thumb that often helps in solving a certain class of problems, but makes . . . Read More
Availability heuristic at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■■■■■■
Availability heuristic refers to a mental rule of thumb whereby people base a judgment on the ease with . . . Read More
Anchoring at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■■■
Anchoring refers to a decision-making Heuristic in which final estimates are heavily influenced by initial . . . Read More
Decision making at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■■■
Decision making refers to the process(es) by which an individual selects one course of action from among . . . Read More
Labor at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Labor refers to the period of involuntary contractions of the uterine muscles that occurs prior to giving . . . Read More
Assimilation at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Assimilation refers to the process by which new objects, events, experiences, or information are incorporated . . . Read More
Backtracking at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Backtracking refers to a problem-solving technique that involves keeping track of where in the solving . . . Read More
Joint at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Joint refers to a hand-rolled marijuana cigarette; - In psychology, the term "joint" can have a few different . . . Read More
Ignorance at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Ignorance is an organizational climate in which important information is not available; - - In psychology, . . . Read More
Logic at psychology-glossary.com■■■■■
Logic refers to the process of reasoning, thinking, and making decisions. Logic is the branch of psychology . . . Read More