The use of simplifying strategies and rules of thumb leads to predictable faulty judgments known as cognitive biases.

• A. Not always
• B. Sometimes
• C. False
• D. True

Answer: (D)

Using mental shortcuts and rules of thumb speeds up thinking but can create systematic errors. Those predictable errors are what psychologists call cognitive biases. Because the same shortcuts—availability, anchoring, representativeness, and others—tend to produce similar misjudgments across people and situations, the outcome is a common, faulty pattern in judgment. There are times when heuristics lead to accurate judgments, but the described tendency to produce predictable faulty judgments is a valid, well-supported observation, so the statement is true.