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A heuristic[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]
heuriskein (ancient Greek) and heurisricus (Latin): 'to find out, discover.')
'guiding discovery' or 'improving problem solving' ... its origin in ancient Greece where the verb 'heuriskein' means to find.
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'.
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.'
Not only is 'heuristic' used in diverse ways across and within disciplines, but its meaning has evolved over the years.
Kahneman & Frederick (2002) proposed that a heuristic assesses a target attribute by another property (attribute substitution) that comes more readily to mind.
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.
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'.
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.
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.