This study explores how simple cognitive rules influence pedestrian behavior and contribute to crowd disasters. Researchers propose a cognitive science approach based on behavioral heuristics to model pedestrian motion, which is simpler and more effective than physics-based models. The model uses visual information to determine desired walking directions and speeds, enabling pedestrians to adapt their behavior in response to obstacles and crowd density. It predicts collective patterns such as unidirectional lanes and stop-and-go waves, and explains crowd turbulence at high densities, a phenomenon observed in crowd disasters. The model integrates individual interactions and body collisions, overcoming limitations of physics-inspired pair interaction models. It also has applications in improving autonomous robot navigation and understanding collective social behaviors. The study highlights the importance of cognitive heuristics in understanding crowd dynamics, which is crucial for safer mass events and more realistic modeling of human and biological swarms. The model was validated through experiments and simulations, showing good agreement with empirical data on pedestrian motion and crowd behavior.This study explores how simple cognitive rules influence pedestrian behavior and contribute to crowd disasters. Researchers propose a cognitive science approach based on behavioral heuristics to model pedestrian motion, which is simpler and more effective than physics-based models. The model uses visual information to determine desired walking directions and speeds, enabling pedestrians to adapt their behavior in response to obstacles and crowd density. It predicts collective patterns such as unidirectional lanes and stop-and-go waves, and explains crowd turbulence at high densities, a phenomenon observed in crowd disasters. The model integrates individual interactions and body collisions, overcoming limitations of physics-inspired pair interaction models. It also has applications in improving autonomous robot navigation and understanding collective social behaviors. The study highlights the importance of cognitive heuristics in understanding crowd dynamics, which is crucial for safer mass events and more realistic modeling of human and biological swarms. The model was validated through experiments and simulations, showing good agreement with empirical data on pedestrian motion and crowd behavior.