Basing the estimate of an event on how similar it is to the prototype of that event is called
A) the law of small numbers.
B) the conjunction fallacy.
C) the representativeness heuristic.
D) the availability heuristic.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves using the similarity of an event to its prototype or typical example in order to estimate the likelihood of that event occurring. This can lead to errors, as people may ignore base rates or other relevant information in favor of the event's similarity to the prototype. The other options (A, B, and D) all involve different cognitive biases or fallacies, but do not specifically relate to estimating the likelihood of an event based on its similarity to a prototype.

Basing the Estimate of an Event on How Similar It