Concept · Cognitive Bias: Decision-making and judgment biases
Take-the-best heuristic
Origin: Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996
Biological Parallel
When vervet monkeys hear the 'leopard' alarm call, they don't integrate eagle and snake probabilities—they climb, immediately. Single-cue decision-making (one diagnostic signal = action) beats multi-factor analysis when speed determines survival. Evolution built prioritization hierarchies: predator cue trumps all else. The mind's 'take-the-best' algorithm reflects a world where the most diagnostic signal mattered more than comprehensive analysis.