Many people underestimate the proportion of heart attacks that are not fatal because they are not as memorable as heart attacks resulting in death.This illustrates the shortcoming of relying on
A) an algorithm.
B) trial and error.
C) the availability heuristic.
D) convergent thinking.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to rely on readily available information when making judgments or decisions, rather than taking into account all relevant information. In this case, people may rely on the information that they remember most easily (i.e. heart attacks resulting in death) rather than the actual statistics. This leads to an underestimation of the proportion of non-fatal heart attacks. Therefore, the best choice is C.

Many People Underestimate the Proportion of Heart Attacks That Are