Even though there are relatively few professors of Chinese literature and many postal workers in the U.S.,students guessed that a man who spoke Chinese and reads a lot was probably a Chinese literature professor rather than a postal worker.This is an example of using
A) the representativeness heuristic.
B) the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
C) the confirmatory heuristic.
D) the availability heuristic.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of using the representativeness heuristic, which involves categorizing objects, people, or events based on how well they seem to match our existing mental prototype or schema of the category. In this case, the mental schema for a Chinese literature professor includes speaking Chinese and reading a lot, whereas the mental schema for a postal worker might not include those characteristics. This leads the students to assume that the man is more likely to be a Chinese literature professor based on how well he matches that mental schema, even though there are fewer Chinese literature professors than postal workers in the U.S.

Even Though There Are Relatively Few Professors of Chinese Literature