heuristics

Heuristics

Heuristics are information-processing strategies or ‘mental shortcuts’ that enable individuals to form judgements, make decisions, and solve problems quickly and efficiently

What helps us make quick decisions using heruristics?

Intuitive and automatic processes, developed through experience, help us make quick decisions using heuristics. But can somtimes lead to biased or incorrect judgements.

Positive influence of heuristics

• Save time when making decisions and solving problems.

• Sometimes results in accurate decision-making and efficient problem-solving.

• Can be adaptive and protect an individual from dangerous situations.

negative heuristics

• Decisions are made quickly which makes them prone to error.

• The base-rate fallacy is a type of bias in which decisions, social perceptions, and judgements are influenced more by vivid memories and experiences than statistical fact.

4 heuristics

• anchoring

• availability

• representative

• Affect

Anchoring heuristics

 Information-processing strategy that involves forming judgements based on the first information received about an idea or concept.

Example of anchoring heuristics

You might think it is reasonable for a t-shirt to cost $40, anything less is cheap, anything more is expensive. 

Availability heuristics

information-processing strategy that enables individuals to form a judgement, solve a problem, or make a decision based on information that is easily accessible. 

Example of availability heuristics

An individual may be asked whether they believe more people die from cancer or a stroke? 

• This has the potential to lead to biased judgements, as individuals may rely on information available to them that does not necessarily reflect the reality of the situation,

Representative heuristics

 information-processing strategy that involves making a categorical judgement about an idea, event, or person, based on their similarity to other items in that category.

Example of representative heuristics

Might see a woman walking down the street with a pram → assume she is the mother to the child? Could be a relative, babysitter, carer etc.

Affect heuristics

An information-processing strategy that involves using emotions to make a judgement or decision

Example of affect heuristics

In response to the statement ‘smoking can cause death’ an individual may feel a sense of dread, which could in turn influence their decision not to smoke.