Hick's Law describes the change in the time required for a person to reach a decision based on the number of possible choices. Too many choices can lead to indecision.
Synonym: Hick-Hyman law
Hick's Law is related to the Paradox of Choice.
The law states that the time needed for a person to make a choice increases logarithmically with the number of choices.
The pattern occurs because a person tends to subdivide the choices into categories, reducing the amount time compared to a linear process if each was made separately.
This can be expressed as:
time to make a choice = choice reaction time =
= (constant) * LOG2((number of choices) + 1)
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