heuristics

(hyu̇′ris·tiks)

(psychology) The study of the mental processes involved in problem solving.

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Problem solving methodology that uses trial and error as well as rules of thumb to take shortcuts to a solution. Although a heuristic approach may not lead to the optimal solution, it is a faster, less expensive, and more practical technique than optimization techniques. For example, when choosing a dry cleaner, a consumer may limit the search to those within a convenient distance and those that the consumer has heard about from a friend. In contrast, an optimization approach would require careful study of every dry cleaner in the market on a variety of criteria including price, quality, turnaround time, and so forth.

Serving to discover or solve problems, even when no algorithms or rules exist, using rules which involve essentially a process of trial and error. An item of information or a rule used in the process is sometimes known as a heuristic for that problem. The term is important in artificial intelligence and cybernetics.

(Published 1987)

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