ental Shortcuts:

A Necessary Evil?
Daniela
Rudloff
 Outline

• Introduc3on:
Mental
Shortcuts
• Shortcut
#1:
Op3cal
Illusions
• Shortcut
#2:
Pa>ern
Recogni3on
• Shortcut
#3:
Heuris3cs
• Shortcut
#4:
Social
comparison
• Shortcut
#5:
A>en3on
&
Focus
• Shortcut
#6:
Anchoring
• Conclusion
 Types
of
Mental
Shortcuts

A matter of
Hard-wired Hard to train knowledge

-Mental Shortcuts = deviations from rational

Hard-wired
thought, requiring less effort but at the cost of
accuracy
-Evolutionary background
-A continuum of shortcuts, ranging from inbuilt
& unchangeable to a matter of knowing
 Op3cal
Illusions:

Now
You
See
it,
Now
You
Don’t:


Taken from http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

 Op3cal
Illusions

Taken from http://ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca/~alachman/ponzo_illusion.html

 Op3cal
illusions

Taken from http://ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca/~alachman/ponzo_illusion.html

 Op3cal
Illusions

Taken from http://ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca/~alachman/ponzo_illusion.html

 Op3cal
Illusions

• Hard‐wired
processing
rules
of
our
eyes’
input
• Knowing
the
process
does
not
change
the
percep3on

• Processing
shortcuts
 • Percep3on
cannot
be

(e.g.,
distant
objects
 consciously/
appear
smaller
than
near
 inten3onally
controlled
ones)
speeds
up
 • Percep3on
does
not

percep3on
and
reduces
 necessarily
represent

overall
workload
 real
world
accurately
 Pa>ern
recogni3on

• Finding
pa>erns
fast,
recognising
pa>erns
easily
• Experience
helps
create
bigger
pa>ern
“chunks”

• Reduces
memory
 • “Coincidence
is

workload meaningful”
• Speeds
up
processing • Supers33ous
behaviour
• Reduces
uncertainty • Confirma3on
bias
 Social
Comparison

• We’re
social
animals
• We’re
looking
for
others
to
validate
our
behaviour

• Behaviour
of
majority
 • Conformity
usually
a
good
cue
to
 • Obedience
appropriate
behaviour

• Hinders
innova3on
• Provides
valida3on
• Groupthink
• Lets
us
profit
from

other
peoples’

experience
 Heuris3cs

• Rules
of
thumb
for
fast
decision‐making
• Availability
heuris3c,
representa3ve
heuris3c

• Speed
up
decision
 • Can
make
us
bypass

processes content
and
go
for
form

• Can
be
surprisingly
 only
accurate • Intui3ve,
some3mes

• Oeen
closely
related
to
 illogical
real‐life
experience • Unsuitable
under

unusual
circumstances
 A>en3on
&
Focu‐
Oh,
look,
shiny!

Take 10 seconds. Take stock of what is happening around you:

“General background noise, the slides, the taste of whatever drink
you’re drinking.“ Is that all? Think again:
You hear: Conversations from other people in the pub. The roaring laughter from one particular
busy group. The low hum of the projector. The rustle of fabric when someone near you fidgets
on their chair. Traffic noises during the rare moments when the rest of the pub is quiet.
Someone coughing in the background.
You see: The powerpoint slides - the colour of the background, the title, the text on the slides.
The colour of the pub walls. The pictures on the walls. The windows and what’s going on
behind them. The lamps and lampshades. The sofas, chairs and tables. The leather sofa in
front of you and who is sitting on it. The suede jacket the women sitting on the chair opposite is
wearing. Her high heels. The top another women is wearing. The colour of the tie the guy
beside you. Your wine glass on the table. Your empty pint of beer on the table.
You feel: The shape of the pint glass you’re holding in your hand. The cool texture of that
glass. The slow trickle of condensation water. The feel of your shoes’ soles against your feet.
The feel of the jeans against your shins and knees and thighs. The fabric of your shirt against
your skin. The feel of your glasses on your nose (optional). The slight scratch from the scrubble
you didn’t shave this morning.
 A>en3on
&
Focu‐
Oh,
look,
shiny!

• Selec3ve
percep3on
of
sensory
input

• Selec3on
of
input
vital
 • We
may
miss
details
for
survival
 • Confirma3on
bias
• Makes
input
 • We
can
be
ac3vely

manageable
in
the
first
 misled
place
 And
The
Winner
is
...


250 Real
weight
200

150 Anchor
Group A
100

50 Anchor
Group B
0
Group A Group B
 Anchoring

• Over‐reliance
on
par3cular
informa3on
to
make

judgements

• Supports
evalua3ons
 • Anchoring
process

and
decision‐making,
 cannot
be
avoided
without
having
to
start
 • (Ab)used
as
a
sales

from
scratch technique
• Incorporates
and
 • Creates
fake

integrates
new
 comparison
standards
informa3on
 Group
A
Please
read
and
answer
in
silence.

Please
consider
the
following

two
ques3ons
and
write
down

your
answer
on
the
piece
of

paper
provided.

1)
Do
you
think
an
orange

weighs
more
than
150g?
2)
What
do
you
think,
how

much
does
an
orange
weigh?

 Group
B
Please
read
and
answer
in
silence.

Please
consider
the
following

two
ques3ons
and
write
down

your
answer
on
the
piece
of

paper
provided.

1)
Do
you
think
an
orange

weighs
more
than
50g?
2)
What
do
you
think,
how

much
does
an
orange
weigh?

 How
I
dropped
the
anchor

Group
A:
“Please
consider
the
following
two
ques3ons
and
write
down
your
answer

on
the
piece
of
paper
provided.

1)
Do
you
think
an
orange
weighs
more
than 150g?
2)
What
do
you
think,
how
much
does
an
orange
weigh?”

Group
B:
“Please
consider
the
following
two

ques3ons
and
write
down
your
answer
on
the
piece

of
paper
provided.

1)
Do
you
think
an
orange
weighs
more
than
50g?
2)
What
do
you
think,
how
much
does
an
orange

weigh?”
Anchoring
 Conclusion:
But
Wait,
There’s
More!

• Taking
cues
from
the
environment,
mindless
ea3ng
• A>ribu3on
bias
• Schemata

&
scripts
• Framing
• Emphasis
on
emo3ons
‐
over‐emphasis
on
anecdotal
evidence
• Reduc3on
of
cogni3ve
dissonance
• Striving
for
consistent
behaviour
 And
that’s
it
...


Thank you very much 
for your a>en?on! 

daniela.rudloff@schwa.de 
h>p://www.le.ac.uk/pc/dr78/