Effort reduction after self-control depletion: The role of cognitive resources in use of simple heuristics

Abstract

Heuristics have been described as decision strategies that save time and effort. Given this advantageous property, heuristics should be more often used when cognitive resources are scarce. We tested this general view with respect to the fast and frugal recognition heuristic which assumes one-reason decision making based on recognition alone whenever one object in a paired comparison is recognised and the other is not. In an experiment, we manipulated cognitive resources through an executive control procedure previously used in ego-depletion research. From the choice frequencies, the probability of using the recognition heuristic was estimated by means of a multinomial processing tree model. Results confirmed that use of the recognition heuristic was indeed more likely under depleted resources and thus limited cognitive capacity. These findings corroborate the general notion that a need for effort reduction fosters use of simple decision heuristics.