On Second Thought (Wray Herbert)

This book is right down my alley - it's all about the automatic processes we use to make quick, effortless decisions and how, depending on the situation, they can be wrong. The author makes the point that saving time and energy on decisions is often necessary (you can't possibly re-think and analyze every choice about which cereal to have for breakfast, which socks to wear to work, or which parking place to take at the mall). Still, we need to be aware that some decisions require more careful thinking, and we need to be aware of the snap judgments we make so we can countermand them when appropriate. The book includes all the basic heuristics I am familiar with (availability, or familiarity, for example) and describes other processes that I don't think are commonly referred to as heuristic but which serve the same purpose (our tendency to feel lonelier when exposed to low temperatures, for example). An interesting introduction to some of the complex processes going on "behind the curtain" in our minds.