A rule-of-thumb procedure or trial-and-error problem-solving process for making a decision or forming a judgment, without resorting to an algorithm or formal reasoning. The use of analogies or metaphors can be part of such a process. While its aim is to reduce the time taken to arrive at a solution, it does not guarantee the best one, or even any solution at all. First suggested as an exploratory approach to decision making by Herbert A. Simon (1916-2001), it has become a firmly established topic of research in cognitive science and psychology, under the heading of ‘cognitive heuristics’. Means-end analysis is one example of a cognitive heuristic and as such relevant to the study of cognitive development.
See Analogy (as a trope), Causality (as a psychological phenomenon), Cognitive science, Creativity, Delphi method, Metaphor, Problem solving, Trial-and-error learning