Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M9308

Hick's Law

Hick's Law
DecideHigh supportDecision Science
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

- Decision time increases logarithmically with the number of options: RT = a + b·log₂(n).

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Interface design principle. More options lead to slower decisions—supporting simplified menus and hierarchical information architecture.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Hick's law (Hick-Hyman law): the reaction time required for a person to make a choice increases logarithmically with the number of available options, i.e., T = a + b·log₂(n+1). More options lead to slower decisions.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_lawZH · Explicit
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