When people are asked which is more common, death by homicide or death by stroke, they often choose homicide because they simply hear more about murders than they do about strokes. In this instance, people are led astray in their judgments by:
A)the representativeness heuristic
B)counterfactual thinking
C)the confirmation bias
D)the availability heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of the availability heuristic, where people estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind. In this case, because homicides are more frequently reported in the media than strokes, people mistakenly believe homicides are more common.

When People Are Asked Which Is More Common, Death by Homicide