Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings in Social Judgement [Hardcover]

Richard E Nisbett (Author), Lee Ross (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (February 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0134451309
• ISBN-13: 978-0134451305
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #627,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, December 11, 1995

By A Customer

This review is from: Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement (Paperback)

This is a landmark work in the field of social psychology,
but it is also of great interest to a more general
audience.

The subject of the book is how humans think and make
decisions. Since we all do this, and how well we do
this has a considerable impact on our quality of life,
this is one book that I believe should be part of
everyone's education.

The book is written for undergraduate students in
social psychology so it is heavier reading than popular
psychology books, but it is correspondingly more
detailed and informative.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is the best work on the subject., April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement (Paperback)

Nisbitt and Ross bring to life the field of judgment and decision making. It is a scholarly analysis of the subject. The book is essential reading for every pschologist, trial lawyer and any other person who must understand how people make judgments and decisions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible analysis of decision making shortcuts, August 15, 2010

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement (Paperback)

The authors explore how humans use decision making shortcuts (otherwise referred to as "heuristics"). Over time, humans, according to the authors, humans have developed decision making shortcuts to make decisions in (what another theorist calls) "fast and frugal ways."

Example? "The vividness criterion." Here, we use dramatic examples to shape our decisions. This is otherwise referred to as the "fallacy of the dramatic illustration." People often do not think through whether the dramatic instance is really typical. As a result, they may make decisins on the basis of poor information.

A fine book that sheds light on how we make decisions.