Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHistory and OriginsUsesTypesHeuristics vs. AlgorithmsHeuristics and BiasHow to Make Better Decisions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
History and Origins
Uses
Types
Heuristics vs. Algorithms
Heuristics and Bias
How to Make Better Decisions
Close
If you need to make a quick decision, there’s a good chance you’ll rely on a heuristic to come up with a speedy solution. Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently. Common types of heuristics rely on availability, representativeness, familiarity, anchoring effects, mood, scarcity, and trial-and-error.
Think of these as mental “rule-of-thumb” strategies that shorten decision-making time. Such shortcuts allow us to function without constantly stopping to think about our next course of action.
However, heuristics have both benefits and drawbacks. These strategies can be handy in many situations but can also lead tocognitive biases. Becoming aware of this might help you make better and more accurate decisions.
Press Play for Advice On Making Decisions
History of the Research on Heuristics
Nobel-prize winning economist and cognitive psychologist Herbert Simon originally introduced the concept of heuristics in psychology in the 1950s. He suggested that while people strive to make rational choices, human judgment is subject to cognitive limitations. Purely rational decisions would involve weighing every alternative’s potential costs and possible benefits.
In the 1970s, psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman presented their research on cognitive biases. They proposed that these biases influence how people think and make judgments.
Because of these limitations, we must rely on mental shortcuts to help us make sense of the world.
Simon’s research demonstrated that humans were limited in their ability to make rational decisions, but it was Tversky and Kahneman’s work that introduced the study of heuristics and the specific ways of thinking that people rely on to simplify the decision-making process.
How Time, Complexity, and Ambiguity Influence Decisions
How Heuristics Are Used
Heuristics play important roles in bothproblem-solvinganddecision-making, as we often turn to these mental shortcuts when we need a quick solution.
Here are a few different theories from psychologists about why we rely on heuristics.
In order to cope with the tremendous amount of information we encounter and to speed up the decision-making process, our brains rely on these mental strategies to simplify things so we don’t have to spend endless amounts of time analyzing every detail.
You probably make hundreds or even thousands of decisions every day. What should you have for breakfast? What should you wear today? Should you drive or take the bus? Fortunately, heuristics allow you to make such decisions with relative ease and without a great deal of agonizing.
There are many heuristics examples in everyday life. When trying to decide if you should drive or ride the bus to work, for instance, you might remember that there is road construction along the bus route. You realize that this might slow the bus and cause you to be late for work. So you leave earlier and drive to work on an alternate route.
Heuristics allow you to think through the possible outcomes quickly and arrive at a solution.
Are Heuristics Good or Bad?Heuristics aren’t inherently good or bad, but there are pros and cons to using them to make decisions. While they can help us figure out a solution to a problem faster, they can also lead to inaccurate judgments about others or situations. Understanding these pros and cons may help you better use heuristics to make better decisions.
Are Heuristics Good or Bad?
Heuristics aren’t inherently good or bad, but there are pros and cons to using them to make decisions. While they can help us figure out a solution to a problem faster, they can also lead to inaccurate judgments about others or situations. Understanding these pros and cons may help you better use heuristics to make better decisions.
Mental Sets and Problem-Solving Ability
Types of Heuristics
There are many different kinds of heuristics. While each type plays a role in decision-making, they occur during different contexts. Understanding the types can help you better understand which one you are using and when.
Availability
Theavailability heuristicinvolves making decisions based upon how easy it is to bring something to mind. When you are trying to make a decision, you might quickly remember a number of relevant examples.
Since these are more readily available in your memory, you will likely judge these outcomes as being more common or frequently occurring.
Familiarity
The familiarity heuristic refers to how people tend to have more favorable opinions of things, people, or places they’ve experienced before as opposed to new ones. In fact, given two options, people may choose something they’re more familiar with even if the new option provides more benefits.
Representativeness
A soft-spoken older woman might remind you of your grandmother, so you might immediately assume she is kind, gentle, and trustworthy. However, this is an example of a heuristic bias, as you can’t know someone trustworthy based on their age alone.
Affect
Negative emotions, on the other hand, lead people to focus on the potential downsides of a decision rather than the possible benefits.
Anchoring
Scarcity
Scarcityis a heuristic principle in which we view things that are scarce or less available to us as inherently more valuable. Marketers often use the scarcity heuristic to influence people to buy certain products. This is why you’ll often see signs that advertise “limited time only,” or that tell you to “get yours while supplies last.”
Trial and Error
Trial and error is another type of heuristic in which people use a number of different strategies to solve something until they find what works. Examples of this type of heuristic are evident in everyday life.
People use trial and error when playing video games, finding the fastest driving route to work, or learning to ride a bike (or any new skill).
Difference Between Heuristics and Algorithms
Though the terms are often confused, heuristics and algorithms are two distinct terms in psychology.
Examples of algorithms include instructions for how to put together a piece of furniture or a recipe for cooking a certain dish. Health professionals also create algorithms or processes to follow in order to determine what type of treatment to use on a patient.
How Heuristics Can Lead to Bias
Heuristics can certainly help us solve problems and speed up our decision-making process, but that doesn’t mean they are always a good thing. They can also introduce errors, bias, and irrational decision-making. As in the examples above, heuristics can lead to inaccurate judgments about how commonly things occur and how representative certain things may be.
Just because something has worked in the past does not mean that it will work again, and relying on a heuristic can make it difficult to see alternative solutions or come up with new ideas.
Heuristics can also contribute tostereotypesandprejudice.Because people use mental shortcuts to classify and categorize people, they often overlook more relevant information and create stereotyped categorizations that are not in tune with reality.
How the Status Quo Bias Influences Decisions
While heuristics can be a useful tool, there are ways you can improve your decision-making and avoid cognitive bias at the same time.
Slow Down
We are more likely to make an error in judgment if we are trying to make a decision quickly or are under pressure to do so.Taking a little more time to make a decision can help you see things more clearly—and make better choices.
Whenever possible,take a few deep breathsand do something to distract yourself from the decision at hand. When you return to it, you may find a fresh perspective or notice something you didn’t before.
Identify the Goal
We tend to focus automatically on what works for us and make decisions that serve our best interest. But take a moment to know what you’re trying to achieve. Consider some of the following questions:
Thinking through these questions can help you figure out your goals and the impact that these decisions may have.
Process Your Emotions
Is your decision based on facts or emotions? While emotions can be helpful, they may affect decisions in a negative way if they prevent us from seeing the full picture.
Recognize All-or-Nothing Thinking
When making a decision, it’s a common tendency to believe you have to pick a single, well-defined path, and there’s no going back. In reality, this often isn’t the case.
Sometimes there are compromises involving two choices, or a third or fourth option that we didn’t even think of at first. Try to recognize the nuances and possibilities of all choices involved, instead of usingall-or-nothing thinking.
Takeaways
Heuristics are common and often useful. We need this type of decision-making strategy to help reduce cognitive load and speed up many of the small, everyday choices we must make as we live, work, and interact with others.
But it pays to remember that heuristics can also be flawed and lead to irrational choices if we rely too heavily on them. If you are making a big decision, give yourself a little extra time to consider your options and try to consider the situation from someone else’s perspective. Thinking things through a bit instead of relying on your mental shortcuts can help ensure you’re making the right choice.
15 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Vlaev I.Local choices: Rationality and the contextuality of decision-making.Brain Sci. 2018;8(1):8. doi:10.3390/brainsci8010008Hjeij M, Vilks A.A brief history of heuristics: how did research on heuristics evolve?Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2023;10(1):64. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-01542-zBrighton H, Gigerenzer G.Homo heuristicus: Less-is-more effects in adaptive cognition.Malays J Med Sci. 2012;19(4):6-16.Schwartz PH.Comparative risk: Good or bad heuristic?Am J Bioeth. 2016;16(5):20-22. doi:10.1080/15265161.2016.1159765Schwikert SR, Curran T.Familiarity and recollection in heuristic decision making.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(6):2341-2365. doi:10.1037/xge0000024AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Finucane M, Alhakami A, Slovic P, Johnson S.The affect heuristic in judgments of risks and benefits.J Behav Decis Mak. 2000; 13(1):1-17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(200001/03)13:1<1::AID-BDM333>3.0.CO;2-STeovanović P.Individual differences in anchoring effect: Evidence for the role of insufficient adjustment.Eur J Psychol. 2019;15(1):8-24. doi:10.5964/ejop.v15i1.1691Cheung TT, Kroese FM, Fennis BM, De Ridder DT.Put a limit on it: The protective effects of scarcity heuristics when self-control is low.Health Psychol Open. 2015;2(2):2055102915615046. doi:10.1177/2055102915615046Mohr H, Zwosta K, Markovic D, Bitzer S, Wolfensteller U, Ruge H.Deterministic response strategies in a trial-and-error learning task. Inman C, ed.PLoS Comput Biol.2018;14(11):e1006621. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006621Grote T, Berens P.On the ethics of algorithmic decision-making in healthcare.J Med Ethics. 2020;46(3):205-211. doi:10.1136/medethics-2019-105586Bigler RS, Clark C.The inherence heuristic: A key theoretical addition to understanding social stereotyping and prejudice.Behav Brain Sci. 2014;37(5):483-4. doi:10.1017/S0140525X1300366Xdel Campo C, Pauser S, Steiner E, et al.Decision making styles and the use of heuristics in decision making.J Bus Econ.2016;86:389–412. doi:10.1007/s11573-016-0811-yMarewski JN, Gigerenzer G.Heuristic decision making in medicine.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012;14(1):77-89. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.1/jmarewskiZheng Y, Yang Z, Jin C, Qi Y, Liu X.The influence of emotion on fairness-related decision making: A critical review of theories and evidence.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1592. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01592
15 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Vlaev I.Local choices: Rationality and the contextuality of decision-making.Brain Sci. 2018;8(1):8. doi:10.3390/brainsci8010008Hjeij M, Vilks A.A brief history of heuristics: how did research on heuristics evolve?Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2023;10(1):64. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-01542-zBrighton H, Gigerenzer G.Homo heuristicus: Less-is-more effects in adaptive cognition.Malays J Med Sci. 2012;19(4):6-16.Schwartz PH.Comparative risk: Good or bad heuristic?Am J Bioeth. 2016;16(5):20-22. doi:10.1080/15265161.2016.1159765Schwikert SR, Curran T.Familiarity and recollection in heuristic decision making.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(6):2341-2365. doi:10.1037/xge0000024AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Finucane M, Alhakami A, Slovic P, Johnson S.The affect heuristic in judgments of risks and benefits.J Behav Decis Mak. 2000; 13(1):1-17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(200001/03)13:1<1::AID-BDM333>3.0.CO;2-STeovanović P.Individual differences in anchoring effect: Evidence for the role of insufficient adjustment.Eur J Psychol. 2019;15(1):8-24. doi:10.5964/ejop.v15i1.1691Cheung TT, Kroese FM, Fennis BM, De Ridder DT.Put a limit on it: The protective effects of scarcity heuristics when self-control is low.Health Psychol Open. 2015;2(2):2055102915615046. doi:10.1177/2055102915615046Mohr H, Zwosta K, Markovic D, Bitzer S, Wolfensteller U, Ruge H.Deterministic response strategies in a trial-and-error learning task. Inman C, ed.PLoS Comput Biol.2018;14(11):e1006621. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006621Grote T, Berens P.On the ethics of algorithmic decision-making in healthcare.J Med Ethics. 2020;46(3):205-211. doi:10.1136/medethics-2019-105586Bigler RS, Clark C.The inherence heuristic: A key theoretical addition to understanding social stereotyping and prejudice.Behav Brain Sci. 2014;37(5):483-4. doi:10.1017/S0140525X1300366Xdel Campo C, Pauser S, Steiner E, et al.Decision making styles and the use of heuristics in decision making.J Bus Econ.2016;86:389–412. doi:10.1007/s11573-016-0811-yMarewski JN, Gigerenzer G.Heuristic decision making in medicine.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012;14(1):77-89. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.1/jmarewskiZheng Y, Yang Z, Jin C, Qi Y, Liu X.The influence of emotion on fairness-related decision making: A critical review of theories and evidence.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1592. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01592
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Vlaev I.Local choices: Rationality and the contextuality of decision-making.Brain Sci. 2018;8(1):8. doi:10.3390/brainsci8010008Hjeij M, Vilks A.A brief history of heuristics: how did research on heuristics evolve?Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2023;10(1):64. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-01542-zBrighton H, Gigerenzer G.Homo heuristicus: Less-is-more effects in adaptive cognition.Malays J Med Sci. 2012;19(4):6-16.Schwartz PH.Comparative risk: Good or bad heuristic?Am J Bioeth. 2016;16(5):20-22. doi:10.1080/15265161.2016.1159765Schwikert SR, Curran T.Familiarity and recollection in heuristic decision making.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(6):2341-2365. doi:10.1037/xge0000024AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Finucane M, Alhakami A, Slovic P, Johnson S.The affect heuristic in judgments of risks and benefits.J Behav Decis Mak. 2000; 13(1):1-17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(200001/03)13:1<1::AID-BDM333>3.0.CO;2-STeovanović P.Individual differences in anchoring effect: Evidence for the role of insufficient adjustment.Eur J Psychol. 2019;15(1):8-24. doi:10.5964/ejop.v15i1.1691Cheung TT, Kroese FM, Fennis BM, De Ridder DT.Put a limit on it: The protective effects of scarcity heuristics when self-control is low.Health Psychol Open. 2015;2(2):2055102915615046. doi:10.1177/2055102915615046Mohr H, Zwosta K, Markovic D, Bitzer S, Wolfensteller U, Ruge H.Deterministic response strategies in a trial-and-error learning task. Inman C, ed.PLoS Comput Biol.2018;14(11):e1006621. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006621Grote T, Berens P.On the ethics of algorithmic decision-making in healthcare.J Med Ethics. 2020;46(3):205-211. doi:10.1136/medethics-2019-105586Bigler RS, Clark C.The inherence heuristic: A key theoretical addition to understanding social stereotyping and prejudice.Behav Brain Sci. 2014;37(5):483-4. doi:10.1017/S0140525X1300366Xdel Campo C, Pauser S, Steiner E, et al.Decision making styles and the use of heuristics in decision making.J Bus Econ.2016;86:389–412. doi:10.1007/s11573-016-0811-yMarewski JN, Gigerenzer G.Heuristic decision making in medicine.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012;14(1):77-89. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.1/jmarewskiZheng Y, Yang Z, Jin C, Qi Y, Liu X.The influence of emotion on fairness-related decision making: A critical review of theories and evidence.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1592. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01592
Vlaev I.Local choices: Rationality and the contextuality of decision-making.Brain Sci. 2018;8(1):8. doi:10.3390/brainsci8010008
Hjeij M, Vilks A.A brief history of heuristics: how did research on heuristics evolve?Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2023;10(1):64. doi:10.1057/s41599-023-01542-z
Brighton H, Gigerenzer G.Homo heuristicus: Less-is-more effects in adaptive cognition.Malays J Med Sci. 2012;19(4):6-16.
Schwartz PH.Comparative risk: Good or bad heuristic?Am J Bioeth. 2016;16(5):20-22. doi:10.1080/15265161.2016.1159765
Schwikert SR, Curran T.Familiarity and recollection in heuristic decision making.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(6):2341-2365. doi:10.1037/xge0000024
AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092
Finucane M, Alhakami A, Slovic P, Johnson S.The affect heuristic in judgments of risks and benefits.J Behav Decis Mak. 2000; 13(1):1-17. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0771(200001/03)13:1<1::AID-BDM333>3.0.CO;2-S
Teovanović P.Individual differences in anchoring effect: Evidence for the role of insufficient adjustment.Eur J Psychol. 2019;15(1):8-24. doi:10.5964/ejop.v15i1.1691
Cheung TT, Kroese FM, Fennis BM, De Ridder DT.Put a limit on it: The protective effects of scarcity heuristics when self-control is low.Health Psychol Open. 2015;2(2):2055102915615046. doi:10.1177/2055102915615046
Mohr H, Zwosta K, Markovic D, Bitzer S, Wolfensteller U, Ruge H.Deterministic response strategies in a trial-and-error learning task. Inman C, ed.PLoS Comput Biol.2018;14(11):e1006621. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006621
Grote T, Berens P.On the ethics of algorithmic decision-making in healthcare.J Med Ethics. 2020;46(3):205-211. doi:10.1136/medethics-2019-105586
Bigler RS, Clark C.The inherence heuristic: A key theoretical addition to understanding social stereotyping and prejudice.Behav Brain Sci. 2014;37(5):483-4. doi:10.1017/S0140525X1300366X
del Campo C, Pauser S, Steiner E, et al.Decision making styles and the use of heuristics in decision making.J Bus Econ.2016;86:389–412. doi:10.1007/s11573-016-0811-y
Marewski JN, Gigerenzer G.Heuristic decision making in medicine.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012;14(1):77-89. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2012.14.1/jmarewski
Zheng Y, Yang Z, Jin C, Qi Y, Liu X.The influence of emotion on fairness-related decision making: A critical review of theories and evidence.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1592. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01592
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