What is heuristics and how is it applied in the
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to make an important decision but didn’t have all the information you needed to make it? Have you had to make a quick decision and didn’t know where to start? Heuristics cánido be the key to be able to face this type of everyday situations.
It is a powerful technique that allows us to make quick decisions in situations of uncertainty.
Using mental shortcuts and assumptions based on our previous experience, heuristics allow us to come up with an approximate solution to a problem in the blink of an eye.
So, whether you’re looking to increase your productivity at work or just want to improve your decision-making skills, heuristics is a must-have tool to have in your armamento.
I invite you to discover how heuristics perro forever change the way you make decisions in your daily life (for better or worse).
Introduction
Do you make decisions every day with the potential to change your future?
The reality is that throughout our lives, we all face the need to make decisions every day.
Some of these decisions are considered fácil (routine) and cánido be resolved without much effort, since they require few mental resources.
However, there are other decisions that are perceived as significant due to their possible consequences and therefore require a higher level of reflection and analysis on our part to ensure that we choose the most conveniente option.
To achieve this, each available alternative must be carefully evaluated and the possible outcomes of each must be considered before making a final decision.
In short, making decisions is an inherent part of life and every decision, whether fácil or important, requires a certain level of thought and analysis before being made.
Now, although we do not realize it, not all decisions are made using our reasoning, in fact that is what I am going to talk about in this article.
definition of heuristic
A definition of heuristics is as follows:
“Heuristics refers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that yield a solution that is not guaranteed to be optimal.
When exhaustive search is not practical, heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution through mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load of decision making.
What is it?
Well, it is a concept that is related to how we make decisions in our daily lives.
Think about the following, we are often faced with situations where we do not have enough time or information to fully analyze an issue before making a decision.
TRUE?
To deal with these challenges, we often complejo turístico to mental shortcuts known as heuristics or estimation heuristics (estimates of possible outcomes) based on past experience.
It should be noted that although they perro be useful in helping us make quick decisions, it is important to understand the limitations and potential biases associated with their use.
In summary, we cánido say that:
Heuristics is a term used in psychology to refer to a problem-solving technique that involves using mental shortcuts or assumptions based on previous experience to arrive at a quick and approximate solution to a problem.
Example to understand how heuristics work
The first example that I am going to talk about so that you understand how heuristics work is the following:
Imagine that you are going to receive 1 million dollars if you guess the number of a afirma, which you are going to throw. Which face of the cat would you choose? Suppose that on one occasion you rolled the afirma many times and more than 50% of the time you got the number 1.
Therefore, based on that experience of yours, it is most likely that you choose the face of the afirma corresponding to number 1.
Although it is a very fácil example, heuristics refers to those mental shortcuts.
Although, they are not always correct, since the probability that the 1 will appear is not more than 50%, right? If we use a bit of probability, the correct answer would be that each head has 1/6 of the probability that said event will occur.
Importance
Heuristics are important because they help us make quick decisions in situations where uncertainty reigns.
In an increasingly complex world and with an overwhelming amount of information available, heuristics allow us to filter the relevant information and arrive at an approximate solution to a problem in a shorter period of time.
In addition, it perro also be very useful in situations in which there is not enough time or resources to soak up everything related to a certain problem.
In such a way that it perro be a valuable tool for us to solve everyday problems, such as:
- Choosing which product to buy in a supermarket.
- Deciding which lugar de comidas to choose for an anniversary dinner.
- Escoge the best option (financial instrument) to invest money.
- Choosing which is the best pet for a child.
In summary, the creation of shortcuts allows us to be more efficient with our mental processing, thus saving time and effort in situations in which we have already found ourselves or have some knowledge of.
Disadvantages of heuristics
Not everything is rosy, since it is important to take into account that heuristics perro be influenced by personal biases and prejudices, and that in many cases it may be necessary to complement them with more scientific or rational methods to obtain optimal and precise solutions.
Some disadvantages of heuristics are the following:
- Biases and prejudices: Heuristics are influenced by personal biases and prejudices, which cánido lead to inaccurate and inaccurate solutions.
- Approximate solutions: Heuristics do not guarantee an optimal or precise solution, but rather give an approximate solution.
- Lack of consideration of all factors: When using mental shortcuts, not all relevant or important factors may be considered.
- Low efficiency in complex situations: Heuristics may be less effective in complex situations or with an overwhelming amount of information and may need to be supplemented by more scientific or rational methods.
Therefore, in a certain way, the degree of precision of the result will depend to a large extent on ourselves (experiences, knowledge, skills, etcétera.).
What are the types of heuristics?
According to Tversky and Kahneman, the three types of heuristics are the following:
- Representativeness.
- Accessibility.
- Adjustment and anchorage.
1. Representativeness heuristics
This heuristic is based on the comparison of the distribution of characteristics of an event with the expected distribution.
In other words, it is evaluated whether the event is representative or typical of a specific category or group.
In simpler words, what we get to do is give judgments taking into account the stereotypes that we have of different categories.
I am going to give you an example of the representativeness heuristic.
Next I am going to give you the description of a person and you will have to choose the option that corresponds to her profession.
«Emmanuel is an introverted man, who prefers to work alone or with a small group of people.
He has an analytical and rational way of thinking.
He enjoys doing activities related to technology and science.
He likes to play vídeo games, chess and solve rompecabezas »
What do you do for a living?
- Engineer.
- Vet.
- Bartender.
As you perro see, the answer you are going to select is based solely on what you think.
How is an engineer? What is a vet like? Probably the answer perro be correct because couples often have afín tastes, but are all people completely the same?
The answer is no and therefore, the answer that we cánido reach with our mental shortcuts is blind.
Another example of a representativeness heuristic is the following: Imagine that a person is considering whether a person determined is a good candidate for a job.
Instead of evaluating all of the candidate’s skills and experiences, the person may use the representativeness heuristic and assume that the candidate is a good fit for the position if he or she is afín to other successful employees the company has or has had.
2.
Accessibility heuristics
Accessibility heuristics are a simplified technique used to assess the probability of an event or situation based on the most easily accessible or available information.
In other words, we use the most immediate or present information in our memory to form a judgment or make a decision.
For example, imagine that I ask you the following question: What is the probability that it will rain today?
It is likely that, in order to answer the question, you use the accessibility heuristics and do not rely on the information that you have at hand in your brain, such as yesterday’s weather or today’s weather forecast, instead of doing an analysis exhaustive analysis of all relevant meteorological cambiantes.
3.
Fitting and Anchoring Heuristics
The adjustment heuristic refers to the tendency of the mind to make estimates based on an initial estimate or an anchor.
In short, it refers to the influence that an initial estimate or an anchor perro have on our perceptions and valuations.
For example, if we’re asked how much a car costs and given an initial anchor of $20,000, our final estimate is likely to be close to the initial figure we’ve been given.
Therefore, we cánido say that our mind tends to focus on the initial anchor and base its estimate on it, even if the information provided is not accurate or relevant.
Where perro heuristics be applied?
As you cánido see, heuristics or heuristics cánido be used and we use them in a large number of situations that we face every day.
We apply it both in personal and professional situations.
Therefore, it is fair to think that we perro and do use heuristics in administration, marketing, finance, etcétera.
Emplees of heuristics in marketing
Do you want to achieve a greater impact on your objetivo? Heuristics will help you to better understand the way in which your objetivo is going to act depending on the stimuli they receive and that is where you perro turn it into an opportunity.
Heuristics perro be used by professionals marketing to influence consumer behavior.
This is achieved through the identification and manipulation of the mental shortcuts that consumers use to make purchase decisions.
Some examples of how heuristics cánido be used include:
- Consumers often rely on the behavior of others to guide their own decisions.
Therefore, the sale of a certain product perro be increased if it is shown that many other people have bought the product and are recommending it.
- As you already know, the anchoring heuristic refers to the tendency we have to rely on the first number or information presented when evaluating subsequent options.
Marketers perro use this heuristic by setting a high starting price to make a lower price option seem more attractive.
- An authority figure perro be used to endorse a product and make it more attractive to consumers.
- As strange as it sounds, if what you say rhymes, then people are more likely to believe it.
The heuristic principle says that this is because fluency aids cognitive processing, making what you say more reliable.
- The zero-risk heuristic refers to the tendency of people to prefer safety and avoid risk, even when it is not necessary to do so.
In the context of marketing, this heuristic perro be used to sell more to consumers.
Use of heuristics in administration
In the administration, heuristics cánido be used to speed up decision making and improve efficiency in problem solving.
Some examples of applications of heuristics in management include:
- Decision making.
- Time management.
- Performance evaluation.
- Troubleshooting.
- Negotiation.
1. Heuristics in the decision making of a company
Heuristics cánido help business managers companies to make faster and more effective decisions, based on their experience and prior knowledge.
That is, managers perro use “mental shortcuts” to make decisions based on their experience and prior knowledge.
So instead of evaluating each option exhaustively, managers perro rely on their intuition and their ability to spot patterns to help them make decisions faster when time is short.
2. Time management
Thanks to the time that administrators or anyone within a company cánido take, they cánido quickly identify the most important tasks and prioritize them, allowing them to allocate their time more effectively and disminuye the amount of time wasted on less critical decisions.
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3. Performance evaluation
It is well known that performance appraisal is a critical process in the management of an organization.
Managers must evaluate the performance of their employees to determine their progress and potential, as well as to identify any areas that require improvement.
Heuristics perro help managers assess employee performance more effectively by using their experience and prior knowledge.
They use these kinds of heuristics to quickly identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
This perro help managers make better decisions about how to improve employee performance and achieve organizational goals.
4. Troubleshooting
Heuristics allow us to address problems more effectively, since they provide us with a frame of reference and help us identify possible solutions through experience and previous knowledge.
Therefore, if at any time you face a problem, you may take into account all the problems afín to the ones you have faced to solve the problem.
That’s what all the people belonging to a company do, and well, all of them in general.
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