fastandfrugal

Fastandfrugal refers to a family of decision-making methods that emphasize speed, simplicity, and limited information. These fast and frugal approaches rely on a small number of cues and minimal computation to reach a judgment or choice, often through a sequential process or a simple rule set. They are designed to work well in real-world environments where time is limited and data can be noisy or incomplete.

Origins and theory underpinning fast and frugal decision making are associated with ecological rationality and bounded rationality. Proponents, including Gerd Gigerenzer and colleagues, argue that people can achieve surprisingly good results with simple heuristics when those heuristics are well matched to the structure of the environment. Fast and frugal trees (FFTs) are a formal manifestation of the idea: a decision aid that asks a small, fixed set of yes/no questions in a specific order, stopping when a terminal decision is reached. This contrasts with more complex models that require many cues and extensive calculations.

Common heuristics in this framework include the recognition heuristic (favor the recognized option when recognition cues are informative), take-the-best (choose the option with the strongest available cue), and other single- or few-cue rules. These rules are valued for their interpretability and low cognitive demand, and they can be particularly effective when cues are informative and the environment is stable.

Applications of fast and frugal methods span domains such as medical screening, risk assessment, and rapid environmental judgments. Critics point out that performance depends on domain structure and that simple heuristics may underperform in environments where cues are misleading or information is plentiful. Overall, the fast and frugal approach contributes to understanding how people make efficient decisions under resource constraints.