Social Psychology Chapter 4: Social Cognition Heinzen/Goodfriend

Algorithm - a systematic, logical method of searching for a solution to a problem or question. Step by step- slow but often correct. anchoring and adjustment heuristic - Occurs when an individual makes a decision using information within a problem that unduly influences his or her final answer. The tendency to adjust little when a plausible estimate, or anchor, has been provided, despite not knowing whether the information is reliable. availability heuristic - the tendency to estimate the likelihood that an event will occur by how easily instances of it come to mind. Occurs when an individual makes a decision using the most easily available information. Cognitive load - the amount of information that an individual's thinking systems can handle at one time Cognitive Load shifting - when an individual's two thinking systems interact by smoothly shifting back and forth between intuition and logic Cognitive miser - the tendency for humans to take mental shortcuts to minimize cognitive load