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A heuristic (/hjʊˈrɪstɪk/; from Ancient Greek εὑρίσκω (heurískō) 'method of discovery',[1] or heuristic technique (problem solving, mental shortcut, rule of thumb)[2][3][4][5] is any approach to problem solving that employs a pragmatic method that is not fully optimized, perfected, or rationalized, but is nevertheless "good enough" as an approximation or attribute substitution.[6][7] Where finding an optimal solution is impossible or impractical, heuristic methods can be used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution.[8][9] Heuristics can be mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load of making a decision.[10][11][12]
Heuristic reasoning is often based on induction, or on analogy[.] [...] Induction is the process of discovering general laws [...] Induction tries to find regularity and coherence [...] Its most conspicuous instruments are generalization, specialization, analogy. [...] Heuristic discusses human behavior in the face of problems [...that have been] preserved in the wisdom of proverbs.[13]
— George Pólya, How to Solve It
- ^ Romanycia, Marc; Pelletier, Francis; Pelletier, Jeffry (1985). "What is a heuristic?". Computational intelligence. 1 (1): 47–58. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
heuriskein (ancient Greek) and heurisricus (Latin): 'to find out, discover.'
- ^ Groner, Rudolf; Groner, Marina; Bischof, Walter (2014). Methods of heuristics. Routledge.
'guiding discovery' or 'improving problem solving' [...] its origin in ancient Greece where the verb 'heuriskein' means to find.
- ^ Hughes, Barnabas (1974). "Heuristic Teaching in Mathematics". Educational Studies in Mathematics. 5 (3): 291–99. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
The word heuristic is taken directly from the Greek verb, heuriskein, 'to discover'. As a noun it is defined as 'a technique of discovery' and as an adjective, it means 'serving to guide, discover, or reveal'. The more common designation for all of this is 'the discovery method'.
- ^ Hertwig, Ralph; Pachur, Thorsten (2015). "Heuristics, history of". International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences: 829–835. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
The origin of the term goes back to the Ancient Greek verb heuriskein, which means 'to find out' or 'to discover.' Heuristics are sometimes also referred to as 'mental shortcuts' or 'rules of thumb.'
- ^ Chow, Sheldon (2015). "Many Meanings of 'Heuristic'". The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. 66 (4): 977–1016. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
Not only is 'heuristic' used in diverse ways across and within disciplines, but its meaning has evolved over the years.
- ^ Gigerenzer, G.; Gaissmaier, W. (2011). "Heuristic Decision Making". Annual Review of Psychology. 62: 451–482. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-120709-145346. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0024-F16D-5. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
Kahneman & Frederick (2002) proposed that a heuristic assesses a target attribute by another property (attribute substitution) that comes more readily to mind.
- ^ Gigerenzer, Gerd (2005). "I Think, Therefore I Err". Social Research. 72 (1): 195–218. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
A good error is a consequence of the adaptation of mental heuristics to the structure of environments. This ecological view is illustrated by visual illusions. Not making good errors would destroy human intelligence.
- ^ Chow, Sheldon (2015). "Many Meanings of 'Heuristic'". The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. 66 (4): 977–1016. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
Heuristics are commonly understood as economical shortcut procedures that may not lead to optimal or correct results, but will generally produce outcomes that are in some sense satisfactory or 'good enough'.
- ^ Romanycia, M.; Pelletier, F. (1985). "What is a heuristic?". Computational Intelligence. 1 (1): 47–58. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
Hence to paraphrase Polya, heuristic is a science of problem-solving behavior that focuses on plausible, provisional, useful, but fallible, mental operations for discovering solutions.
- ^ Gigerenzer, G.; Gaissmaier, W. (2011). "Heuristic Decision Making". Annual Review of Psychology. 62: 451–482. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-120709-145346. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0024-F16D-5. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
Shah & Oppenheimer (2008) proposed that all heuristics rely on effort reduction by one or more of the following: (a) examining fewer cues, (b) reducing the effort of retrieving cue values, (c) simplifying the weighting of cues, (d) integrating less information, and (e) examining fewer alternatives.
- ^ Myers, David G. (2010). Social psychology (Tenth ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-07337-066-8. OCLC 667213323.
- ^ "Heuristics—Explanation and examples". Conceptually. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Polya, George. How to Solve It (PDF). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 113, 114, 117, 132. ISBN 978-0-691-16407-6. Retrieved 10 May 2024.