Saarland University, Department of Psychology, Experimental Neuropsychology Unit, Campus, Building A2.4, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
Psychol Sci. 2011 Dec;22(12):1527-34. doi: 10.1177/0956797611417454. Epub 2011 Nov 3.
Humans can make fast and highly efficient decisions by using simple heuristics that are assumed to exploit basic cognitive functions. In the study reported here, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to disclose the psychological mechanisms underlying one of the most frugal decision rules, namely, the recognition heuristic. According to this heuristic, whenever two objects have to be ranked by a specific criterion and only one object is recognized, the recognized object is ranked higher than the unrecognized object. Using a standard recognition-heuristic paradigm, we predicted participants' decisions by analyzing an ERP correlate of familiarity-based recognition occurring 300 to 450 ms after stimulus onset. The measure remained a significant predictor even when later ERP correlates were taken into account. These findings are evidence for the thesis that simple heuristics exploit basic cognitive processes. Specifically, the findings show that familiarity--that is, recognition in the absence of recollection--contributes to decisions made on the basis of such heuristics.
人类可以通过使用简单的启发式方法来快速而高效地做出决策，这些方法被认为利用了基本的认知功能。在本研究中，我们使用事件相关电位（ERP）来揭示最节俭的决策规则之一——识别启发式背后的心理机制。根据这一启发式，如果两个物体必须根据特定标准进行排序，而只有一个物体被识别，则被识别的物体的排序高于未被识别的物体。我们使用标准的识别启发式范式，通过分析刺激出现后 300 到 450 毫秒出现的基于熟悉度的识别的 ERP 相关物来预测参与者的决策。即使考虑到后来的 ERP 相关物，该措施仍然是一个显著的预测指标。这些发现为简单启发式利用基本认知过程的论点提供了证据。具体来说，这些发现表明，熟悉度——即没有回忆的识别——有助于基于这些启发式做出决策。
