A cognitive rule that judges the likelihood of things in terms of their presence in memory is called the _____ heuristic.
A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a cognitive shortcut in which people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind. This can be influenced by the frequency of exposure to information, personal experience, or media coverage. Therefore, people may overestimate the probability of events that are more readily available in their memory, even if they are not representative of the actual frequency in the population. The other heuristics listed (representativeness, vividness, and matching) also play a role in judgment and decision making, but they are not specifically based on the availability of information in memory.

A Cognitive Rule That Judges the Likelihood of Things in Terms