Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Kognitive Sparfüchse / Español: Tacaños cognitivos / Português: Misers cognitivos / Français: Radins cognitifs / Italiano: Miser cognitivi /

Cognitive misers describe the idea that people are so limited in their ability to think and make inferences that they take mental shortcuts whenever they can.

In psychology, cognitive misers refers to the idea that people have limited cognitive resources and tend to conserve them by using mental shortcuts, also known as heuristics, to make decisions and process information. This concept suggests that individuals have a tendency to engage in automatic thinking and rely on mental shortcuts to simplify complex situations and conserve cognitive resources.

Cognitive misers are more likely to rely on heuristics and stereotypes in situations where there is a high cognitive load or time pressure. For example, when individuals are presented with a complex problem, they may use a heuristic like trial and error to arrive at a solution rather than expend the cognitive resources required for more systematic problem-solving.

The concept of cognitive misers has been applied to a wide range of psychological phenomena, including attitudes, social judgments, memory, and decision-making. Here are some examples of cognitive misers in action:

1. Stereotyping: Stereotyping is a classic example of cognitive misers in action. Individuals often rely on stereotypical beliefs to make judgments about others because it is easier and less cognitively demanding than processing all available information about a person.

2. Confirmation Bias: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs. This is a classic example of cognitive misers, as individuals are more likely to rely on their preexisting beliefs rather than expend cognitive resources to examine all available evidence.

3. Availability Heuristic: The availability heuristic is the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily it comes to mind. This is another example of cognitive misers, as individuals are more likely to rely on their memory of past events rather than expend cognitive resources to assess the true probability of an event.

4. Anchoring and Adjustment: Anchoring and adjustment is a heuristic that involves using an initial estimate as a reference point and then adjusting that estimate based on additional information. This heuristic is a classic example of cognitive misers, as individuals are more likely to rely on the initial estimate rather than expend cognitive resources to arrive at a more accurate estimate.

Some other similar concepts in psychology include bounded rationality, which suggests that individuals are limited in their ability to make rational decisions due to cognitive limitations, and the framing effect, which suggests that individuals are influenced by how information is presented to them rather than the content of the information itself.

Overall, cognitive misers is an important concept in psychology that highlights the limitations of human cognition and decision-making. By understanding these limitations, psychologists can develop interventions and strategies to help individuals overcome cognitive biases and make more informed decisions.