Although rules of thumb can be very helpful, their use can also lead to systematic biases. This insight, first developed decades ago by two Israeli psychologists, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman (1974), has changed the way psychologists (and eventually economists) think about thinking. Their original work identified three heuristics, or rules of thumb—anchoring, availability, and representativeness—and the biases that are associated with each. Their research program has come to be known as the “heuristics and biases” approach to the study of human judgment.
Anchor, availability and representativeness.
