🧠 Quick Study Guide
- ⚙️ Algorithms: A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution to a problem. They are often exhaustive and can be time-consuming for complex issues, but their accuracy is assured.
- 💡 Heuristics: Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that allow for quick, efficient problem-solving and decision-making. While faster, they do not guarantee a correct solution and can lead to biases.
- 🧠💭 Availability Heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples or instances come to mind.
- 👤➡️👥 Representativeness Heuristic: Judging the probability of an event based on its similarity to a prototype or stereotype, often ignoring base rates.
- ⚓️ Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic: Relying too heavily on an initial piece of information (the "anchor") when making subsequent judgments.
- ⏪ Working Backward: A problem-solving strategy that starts from the desired goal state and works backward to determine the steps needed to reach it.
- 🎯➡️🧩 Means-Ends Analysis: A strategy that involves breaking a large problem into smaller, more manageable sub-goals, and then finding means to solve each sub-goal.
📝 Practice Quiz
1. ❓ Which of the following best describes an algorithm?
- ➡️ A) A mental shortcut that provides a quick solution.
- ➡️ B) A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct solution.
- ➡️ C) A problem-solving strategy often used when time is limited.
- ➡️ D) A cognitive bias that influences decision-making.
2. ❓ A heuristic is primarily characterized by:
- ➡️ A) Its guaranteed accuracy in complex problems.
- ➡️ B) Its systematic and exhaustive search for solutions.
- ➡️ C) Its speed and efficiency, though not always accurate.
- ➡️ D) Its reliance on formal logic and mathematical proofs.
3. ❓ When people estimate the probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind, they are using which heuristic?
- ➡️ A) Representativeness heuristic
- ➡️ B) Anchoring and adjustment heuristic
- ➡️ C) Availability heuristic
- ➡️ D) Framing heuristic
4. ❓ Sarah needs to solve a complex math problem. She decides to break it down into smaller, manageable sub-problems and solve each one sequentially. What problem-solving strategy is she using?
- ➡️ A) Trial and error
- ➡️ B) Means-ends analysis
- ➡️ C) Working backward
- ➡️ D) Insight learning
5. ❓ A doctor diagnoses a rare disease in a patient because the patient's symptoms closely match the "typical" presentation of the disease, even though statistical evidence suggests it's highly improbable. This is an example of:
- ➡️ A) Availability heuristic
- ➡️ B) Anchoring bias
- ➡️ C) Representativeness heuristic
- ➡️ D) Confirmation bias
6. ❓ Which of the following problem-solving methods would be most appropriate when searching for a specific key in a large, unorganized pile, if you absolutely must find it?
- ➡️ A) Using the availability heuristic
- ➡️ B) Employing a systematic search algorithm
- ➡️ C) Relying on a quick guess (heuristic)
- ➡️ D) Applying the representativeness heuristic
7. ❓ You are negotiating the price of a car. The salesperson starts with a very high initial offer, and despite your counter-offers, your final negotiated price remains higher than you initially intended. This scenario best illustrates the influence of:
- ➡️ A) Availability heuristic
- ➡️ B) Working backward
- ➡️ C) Anchoring and adjustment heuristic
- ➡️ D) Framing effect
Click to see Answers
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. B
7. C