If asked, many people would state that car accidents are a more frequent cause of death in the United States than strokes. However, the truth is that car accidents are just more sensational than the more frequent strokes. This mistake would be an example of ____.
A) the representativeness heuristic
B) inductive reasoning
C) the availability heuristic
D) prototypical thinking

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mistake of assuming car accidents are more frequent than strokes is an example of the availability heuristic, where people tend to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind. In this case, car accidents are more memorable than strokes due to media coverage and personal experience, leading people to overestimate their frequency. The other options do not fit the scenario as well: representativeness heuristic involves judging something based on its similarity to a prototype, inductive reasoning involves making generalizations from specific observations, and prototypical thinking is similar to representativeness heuristic in that it involves relying on mental shortcuts based on typical or representative examples.

If Asked, Many People Would State That Car Accidents Are