Which term refers to an educated guess or rule of thumb method of problem solving?

Take a look at Buzzword Wednesdays: Heuristics for more information.

Common Reactions to Unknown Situations

There are Several ways a person will try to figure something out or learn your site. This post was adapted from yourdictionary to help you understand what heuristics is. I thought it would be helpful to give real-life examples. Here are some of the ways they may approach interacting with your site:

Educated guess. User reaches a conclusion without exhaustive research. With an educated guess a user considers what they have observed in the past, and applies that history to a situation where a more definite answer has not yet been decided.

Rule of thumb. Applies a broad approach to problem solving. It is a simple heuristic that allows an individual to make an approximation without having to do exhaustive research.

Absurdity. An approach to a situation that is very atypical and unlikely – in other words, a situation that is absurd. This particular heuristic is applied when a claim or a belief seems silly, or seems to defy common sense.

Consistency. User responds to a situation in way that allows them to remain consistent.

Common. Applied to a problem based on a user's observation of a situation. It is a practical and prudent approach that is applied to a decision where the right and wrong answers seems relatively clear cut.

Contagion. Causes a user to avoid something that is thought to be bad or contaminated. For example, when eggs are recalled due to a salmonella outbreak, one might apply this simple solution and decide to avoid eggs altogether to prevent sickness.

Availability. Allows a user to judge a situation on the basis of the examples of similar situations that come to mind, allowing the user to extrapolate to the situation in which they find themselves.

Working backward. Allows a user to solve a problem by assuming that they have already solved it, and working backward in their minds to see how such a solution might have been reached.

Familiarity. Allows a user to approach an issue or problem based on the fact that the situation is one with which the user is familiar, and so one should act the same way they acted in the same situation before.

Scarcity. Used when a particular object becomes rare or scarce. This approach suggests that if something is scarce, then it is more desirable to obtain.

Affect. When a user makes a snap judgment based on a quick impression. This heuristic views a situation quickly and decides without further research whether a thing is good or bad.  Naturally, this heuristic can be both helpful and hurtful when applied in the wrong situation.

Authority. Occurs when a user believes the opinion of a person of authority on a subject just because the individual is an authority figure. People apply this heuristic all the time in matters such as science, politics, and education. "Scientists confirmed recently that..." Fill in the blank and it sounds pretty convincing.

(noun)

An experience-based technique for problem solving, learning, and discovery that yields a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal.

(noun)

An experience-based technique for problem-solving, learning, and discovery that gives a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal.

(adjective)

Experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that yield a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal.

(adjective)

Experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that give a solution which is not guaranteed to be optimal.

(noun)

Experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that give a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal.

(noun)

Experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery. An exhaustive search is impractical, so heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution.

(noun)

A "shortcut" method of problem solving that makes assumptions based on past experiences. Examples include going by "rule of thumb," when you apply your experience of something having happened a certain way enough times that it's likely to continue happening that way. It is not guaranteed to be accurate every single time, but it cuts out processing time by avoiding detailed analysis of every particular situation.

(noun)

An experience-based technique for problem solving, learning, and discovery; examples include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, or common sense.

(adjective)

Relating to general strategies or methods for solving problems.

(noun)

An experience-based technique for problem solving, learning, and discovery. Examples include using a rule of thumb or making an educated guess.

Examples of heuristic in the following topics:

  • Heuristics and Cognitive Biases

    • When solving problems or reasoning, people often make use of certain heuristics, or learning shortcuts.
    • There are several types of heuristics used to save time when drawing conclusions about large amounts of information, including availability, representativeness, and similarity heuristics.
    • The availability heuristic leads to people overestimating the occurrence of situations they are familiar with.
    • We rely on the similarity heuristic all the time when making decisions.
    • Explain the heuristics and cognitive biases that can impact a researcher's interpretation of data
  • Groups

    • Heuristics are sometimes perceived to be legitimate assumptions about an individual and sometimes deemed illegitimate.
    • Legitimate heuristics tend to just be those that import positive generalizations to a particular person.
    • However, the same heuristic can function in negative ways; this is the underlying mechanism that enables stereotypes.
    • Both legitimate and illegitimate heuristics demonstrate how knowledge about one's group affiliations conveys perceived social knowledge about that individual.
    • Discuss how heuristics allow people to learn about people within a society based on group affiliation and give examples of both positive and negative heuristics
  • Decision Making

    • Heuristics are simple rules of thumb that people often use to form judgments and make decisions; think of them as mental shortcuts.
    • When people estimate how likely or how frequent an event is on the basis of its availability, they are using the availability heuristic. 
    • When an infrequent event can be brought easily and vividly to mind, this heuristic overestimates its likelihood.
    • When people categorize things on the basis of representativeness, they are using the representativeness heuristic.
    • Anchoring and adjustment is a heuristic used in situations where people must estimate a number.
  • Problem-Solving

    • The way we solve problems can be influenced by algorithms, heuristics, intuition, insight, confirmation bias, and functional fixedness.
    • We use heuristics when we accept information or strategies as 'good enough' for our needs, even though there may be a better method.
    • They are rules that are not necessarily understood, but promise an accurate solution - unlike a heuristic.
    • Some of these mental processes include functional fixedness, confirmation bias, insight and intuition phenomenology, heuristics, and algorithms.
    • Examine how algorithms, heuristics, intuition, insight, confirmation bias, and functional fixedness can influence judgment and decision making.
  • Kohler and Insight Learning

    • Insight should not be confused with heuristics.
    • A heuristic is a mental shortcut that allows us to filter out overwhelming information and stimuli in order to make a judgement or decision.
    • Heuristics help us to reduce the cognitive burden of the decision-making process by examining a smaller percentage of the information.
    • While both insight and heuristics can be used for problem solving and information processing, a heuristic is a simplistic rule of thumb; it is habitual automatic thinking that frees us from complete and systematic processing of information.
    • While heuristics are gradually shaped by experience, insight is not.
  • Problem Solving

    • Two of them, algorithms and heuristics, are of particularly great psychological importance.
    • A heuristic is a rule of thumb, a strategy, or a mental shortcut that generally works for solving a problem (particularly decision-making problems).
    • Unlike a heuristic, you are guaranteed to get the correct solution to the problem; however, an algorithm may not necessarily be the most efficient way of solving the problem.
    • The difference between an algorithm and a heuristic can be summed up in the example of trying to find a Starbucks (or some other national chain) in a city.
    • But a heuristic could simply be, "Well, usually they're at busy intersections; I'll just walk to the nearest busy intersection."
  • Stereotypes in Everyday Life

    • Stereotypes are useful for the human brain because they operate as a heuristic or a cognitive mechanism to quickly gather, process, and synthesize information.
    • Therefore, we have heuristics to make the process more efficient.
    • In line with the reasoning that describes heuristics, distinguishing oneself from others is a cognitively necessary step; it allows us to develop a sense of identity.
    • Given the social and cognitive necessities of heuristics, the problem with stereotyping is not the existence of the cognitive function.
  • Reasoning

    • We also use a variety of heuristics, or mental shortcuts, when reasoning, solving problems, and making decisions in a limited amount of time.
    • Heuristics help us save time and energy by finding a solution quickly.
    • There are approximately fifteen generally applied heuristics in psychology:
    • Differentiate between the processes of induction, deduction, abduction, and analogy, discussing heuristics that are used in these processes
  • Non-Rational Decision Making

    • He argues that simple heuristics—experience-based techniques for problem-solving—can lead to better decision outcomes than more thorough, theoretically optimal processes that consider vast amounts of information.
    • Where an exhaustive search is impractical, heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution.
  • Analyzing the Options

    • These thinking patterns, known as heuristics, can help us in many situations.
    • For example, in judging distance our minds rely on a heuristic that associate clearness with closeness.
    • But some heuristics can muddle our thinking with biases and irrational preferences.

Which aspect of decision making is an educated guess or rule of thumb method of problem solving?

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow us to make quick judgment calls based on generalizations, or rules of thumb.

Which term best defines best a rule of thumb and a rule that is generally true that we can use to make a judgment in a situation?

A heuristic is a rule-of-thumb, or a guide toward what behavior is appropriate for a certain situation. Heuristics are also known as “mental shortcuts” (Kahneman, 2011). Such shortcuts can aid us when we face time pressure to decide, or when conditions are complex and our attention is divided.

What term means the capacity to come up with original ideas or approaches to a problem?

Creative thinking is the ability to come up with unique, original solutions. Also known as creative problem-solving, creative thinking is a valuable and marketable soft skill in a wide variety of careers.

Which term describes an educated guess based on the information that most quickly and easily comes to mind?

The representativeness heuristic is an educated guess based on the information that most quickly and easily comes to mind.