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Evaluating categories from experience: The simple averaging heuristic.

Thomas K A Woiczyk1, Gaël Le Mens2

  • 1Department of Business Economics, University of the Balearic Islands.

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People often use a simple averaging heuristic to form category evaluations, even when this leads to errors. This cognitive strategy relies on the overall experience average rather than the average of individual member evaluations.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Evaluative judgments about categories are influenced by experiences with members.
  • The precise averaging method used in judgment formation is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether category evaluations are driven by a simple average of experiences or a member average.
  • To identify the cognitive strategy underlying these judgments.

Main Methods:

  • Nine empirical studies were conducted with 1,966 participants.
  • Participants' evaluative judgments were analyzed against two averaging models: simple average and member average.

Main Results:

  • Evaluative judgments about categories were consistently better explained by the simple average heuristic.
  • Participants employed simple averaging even when it led to systematic errors, disregarding normative principles.

Conclusions:

  • The simple averaging heuristic is a prevalent cognitive strategy for forming category evaluations.
  • This heuristic can lead to biases and errors in judgment, particularly with unbalanced experiences.