The recognition heuristic is a prime example of how, by exploiting a match between mind and environment, a simple mental strategy can lead to efficient decision making. The proposal of the heuristic initiated a debate about the processes underlying the use of recognition in decision making. We review research addressing four key aspects of the recognition heuristic: (a) that recognition is often an ecologically valid cue; (b) that people often follow recognition when making inferences; (c) that recognition supersedes further cue knowledge; (d) that its use can produce the less-is-more effect – the phenomenon that lesser states of recognition knowledge can lead to more accurate inferences than more complete states. After we contrast the recognition heuristic to other related concepts, including availability and fluency, we carve out, from the existing findings, some boundary conditions of the use of the recognition heuristic as well as key questions for future research. Moreover, we summarize developments concerning the connection of the recognition heuristic with memory models. We suggest that the recognition heuristic is used adaptively and that, compared to other cues, recognition seems to have a special status in decision making. Finally, we discuss how systematic ignorance is exploited in other cognitive mechanisms (e.g., estimation and preference).
The Recognition Heuristic: A Review of Theory and Tests
Thorsten Pachur,P. Todd,G. Gigerenzer,L. Schooler,D. Goldstein
Published 2011 in Front. Psychology
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2011
- Venue
Front. Psychology
- Publication date
2011-04-23
- Fields of study
Medicine, Computer Science, Psychology
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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