All glossaries
Heuristics & Mental Shortcuts
Heuristics are the mental shortcuts we use to make decisions without working through every possible option. They let us get on with things when time is short or information is incomplete. Satisficing, for example, means choosing an option that meets our needs instead of continuing to search for the best one.
Some shortcuts rely on familiarity or emotion. The availability heuristic relies on how easily examples come to mind. This section looks at how such shortcuts work and the kinds of decisions where they can help or lead us astray.
Definitions
- Affect Heuristic
- Anchoring bias
- Attribute substitution
- Availability Heuristic
- Bounded Rationality
- Choice Overload
- Decision Fatigue
- Decision Paralysis
- Directed Cognition
- Dual Process Theory
- Elimination By Aspects
- Fast-and-frugal heuristics
- Heuristic
- Information Aversion
- Information Avoidance
- Law of the Instrument
- Less Is Better Effect
- Limited Attention
- Mental Set
- Opportunity Cost Neglect
- Paradox of Choice
- Perceptual Set
- Probability Matching
- Recognition Heuristic
- Representativeness Heuristic
- Satisficing
- Scarcity heuristic
- Simulation Heuristic
- System One
- Take the Best Heuristic