Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

arrow_back_ios_new
MENTAL MODEL · M11188

Similarity Heuristic

Similarity Heuristic
Learn & MetacognitionHigh supportCognitive Psychology
Included
account_tree

Updated 2026-08-13

Loading revision record…

INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

A heuristic in which judgments of likelihood or category membership are based on how closely a case resembles a prototype. It is closely related to the representativeness heuristic described by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, which produces systematic errors because resemblance is not the same as probability. The qualification is that the heuristic is often accurate and fast, and that its errors appear mainly when base rates are extreme or when resemblance and probability diverge. Its main failure mode is neglecting prior probability.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Resemblance check: notice when a judgment is being driven by how typical the case looks. - Base-rate retrieval: ask how common the category actually is before judging membership. - Divergence test: check whether resemblance and probability point to different answers here.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Resemblance is available immediately while base rates must be recalled or estimated, so the faster signal dominates unless it is deliberately overridden. Because prototype resemblance tracks probability in many ordinary situations, the shortcut usually works, and its failures concentrate in cases where the prior probability is extreme, which is exactly where the shortcut is least likely to be questioned.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

Check to track your progress (stored locally)
Learning progress0%
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Similarity_heuristicZH · Explicit
    verified

RELATED MODELS

Related model

Attention Residue

A phenomenon in which attention remains partly on Task A after switching to Task B, potentially impairing information processing and performance on B.

arrow_forwardRelated model

The Forgetting Curve

The Forgetting Curve is a curve used to describe the rate of forgetting in long-term memory. It was first proposed by psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus based on his experiments conducted from 1880 to 1885. In these experiments, Ebbinghaus used meaningless letter combinations. By memorizing these combinations and checking the forgetting rate after a series of time intervals, he obtained this curve. Therefore, this curve is also called the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.

arrow_forwardRelated model

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

The frequency illusion (also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon or Red Car Theory) is a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it. The name "Baader–Meinhof phenomenon" was coined in 1994 by Terry Mullen in a …

arrow_forward