Using a Cognitive Architecture to Specify and Test Process Models of Decision Making

Imagine you are asked which city is larger, York or Stockport. About York you recently read an article in the newspaper. You remember that it had some mentionable industry, but no international airport and also no premier league soccer team. Of the city of Stockport you have never heard before. Which city will you answer to be the larger one? According to the recognition heuristic (Goldstein, Gigerenzer, 2002), if you recognize one of the alternatives, but not the other, you should infer that the recognized one to is larger. Your answer would be York. As an alternative to the recognition heuristic, you may rely on a strategy that uses your knowledge about the city’s attributes as cues. Following corresponding compensatory models of decision-making, (e.g. unit-weight linear strategy), you might conclude that the absence of an airport and a premier league soccer team speak against York being a large city. Consequently, you might infer Stockport to be larger.