Heuristics, also known as “rules of thumb” or “mental shortcuts,” are small mental processes that help humans learn new concepts, make judgments, and solve problems quickly. These processes make problems easier by consciously or unconsciously ignoring part of the information coming into the brain.
These strategies reduce people’s decision-making time and allow them to work smoothly without stopping to think about the next step. However, despite freeing up space for the mind, heuristics can cause the individual to lose important information or act on unfair biases.
Let us better understand inference through their origin and types.
Origin
The concept of heuristics was introduced by the Nobel Prize-winning economist and cognitive psychologist Herbert Simon in the 1950s. Simon suggested that although people try to make rational decisions, their judgment is affected by cognitive limitations.
Decisions based on pure rationale may need a thoughtful evaluation of the pros and cons of each alternative. However, due to time constraints, people have to make quick decisions about whatever information they have. So, as a result of these limitations, people are forced to take mental shortcuts to make sense of their worlds. However, Simon’s research was limited to identifying humans’ limited capacity for rational decision-making.
It was the efforts of two psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, in the 1970s whose research advanced the study of reasoning and the multiple ways of thinking and processing information that people rely on in order to facilitate their decision-making process.
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Species
Now that you have learned the origin and meaning of inference, let us understand the different types of mental shortcuts that are generally used by human minds.
1. Type of installation
This type occurs when an individual relies too heavily on the first piece of information he learns while making any decision, even if the information is not the most relevant or important. In such cases, heuristics generally point people in the wrong direction.
2. Availability type
This type of mental shortcut occurs when a person estimates the probability of a particular event occurring based on how easy or simple the example appears in their mind. This is why people overestimate that a plane crash or accident has occurred, given that such events are easily remembered.
3. Pathological type
Satisfaction is a type of decision-making process in which the individual chooses the first option that satisfies the desired condition, even though there are better options.
4. Type of representation
Representational inference causes people to categorize things and people depending on how similar the two entities are. For example, a person described as quiet is more likely to be a writer or librarian than a musician.
5. The type of familiarity
Familiarity-type inference refers to the tendency of people to have a somewhat positive opinion of things, places, or people they have experienced or met previously rather than about new things. Indeed, in most situations, when people are presented with two choices, people gravitate toward the familiar one.
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conclusion:
Heuristics are mental shortcuts and biases that the human mind uses consciously or subconsciously to simplify the decision-making process. However, despite their efficiency, they can often guide us in the wrong direction. This is why one must take mathematical and rational steps to make smart and informed decisions. Try to think through important decisions by reviewing the pros and cons of the available options.
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