Cognitive Heuristic

A Cognitive Heuristic is a mental shortcut that enables rapid judgment and decision making through simplified information processing.

• AKA: Mental Shortcut, Thinking Rule of Thumb, Cognitive Bias, Decision Heuristic.
• Context:
  • It can typically reduce Cognitive Load through information processing simplification.
  • It can typically accelerate Decision Making through mental computation reduction.
  • It can typically enable Rapid Judgment through limited information utilization.
  • It can typically manage Cognitive Resources through attention allocation optimization.
  • It can typically facilitate Adaptive Response through environmental pattern recognition.
  • ...
  • It can often produce Systematic Errors during complex situation analysis.
  • It can often generate Cognitive Biases during non-representative scenario evaluation.
  • It can often prioritize Recent Information during recency-weighted assessment.
  • It can often favor Available Examples during probability estimation.
  • It can often apply Previous Solution Patterns during similar problem encounter.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple Cognitive Heuristic to being a Complex Cognitive Heuristic, depending on its rule complexity.
  • It can range from being a Universal Cognitive Heuristic to being a Domain-Specific Cognitive Heuristic, depending on its application scope.
  • It can range from being an Innate Cognitive Heuristic to being a Learned Cognitive Heuristic, depending on its acquisition mode.
  • It can range from being a Conscious Cognitive Heuristic to being an Unconscious Cognitive Heuristic, depending on its awareness level.
  • It can range from being a Beneficial Cognitive Heuristic to being a Detrimental Cognitive Heuristic, depending on its decision quality impact.
  • ...
  • It can employ Attribute Substitution for complex judgment simplification.
  • It can utilize Pattern Matching for rapid categorization.
  • It can implement Satisficing Strategy for good-enough solution selection.
  • It can apply Recognition Principle for familiar option prioritization.
  • It can leverage Emotional Tag for quick value assessment.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Judgment Cognitive Heuristic Categories, such as:
    • Availability Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Ease of Recall Cognitive Heuristic for memory-based probability assessment.
      • Media Exposure Cognitive Heuristic for frequency estimation bias.
      • Example Generation Cognitive Heuristic for likelihood judgment.
    • Representativeness Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Stereotype Application Cognitive Heuristic for category-based judgment.
      • Small Sample Cognitive Heuristic for hasty generalization.
      • Gambler's Fallacy Cognitive Heuristic for random sequence misinterpretation.
    • Anchoring Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Initial Value Cognitive Heuristic for adjustment-based estimation.
      • Negotiation Anchor Cognitive Heuristic for price expectation setting.
      • Numerical Priming Cognitive Heuristic for quantity judgment influence.
  • Decision Cognitive Heuristic Categories, such as:
    • Affect Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Emotional Response Cognitive Heuristic for intuitive risk evaluation.
      • Feeling-Based Cognitive Heuristic for quick preference determination.
    • Recognition Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Familiarity Cognitive Heuristic for option selection bias.
      • Brand Recognition Cognitive Heuristic for product quality inference.
    • Take-the-Best Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Single Attribute Cognitive Heuristic for simplified choice mechanism.
      • Lexicographic Cognitive Heuristic for sequential cue evaluation.
  • Problem Solving Cognitive Heuristic Categories, such as:
    • Means-Ends Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Goal State Comparison Cognitive Heuristic for gap reduction strategy.
      • Subgoal Formation Cognitive Heuristic for incremental progress planning.
    • Satisficing Cognitive Heuristics, such as:
      • Good-Enough Cognitive Heuristic for search termination decision.
      • Threshold-Based Cognitive Heuristic for acceptability judgment.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Analytical Thinking Processes, which employ systematic evaluation rather than simplification principles.
  • Algorithmic Decision Methods, which follow precise calculation steps rather than mental shortcuts.
  • Exhaustive Search Approaches, which consider all available options rather than limited subsets.
  • Formal Logic Systems, which apply rigorous inference rules rather than quick approximations.
  • Statistical Analysis Procedures, which utilize comprehensive data processing rather than sampling approaches.
• See: Decision Making Process, Bounded Rationality, Cognitive Bias, Mental Model, Cognitive Resource, Information Processing, Judgment Under Uncertainty.

---