Final answer:
The representativeness heuristic refers to our tendency to evaluate information based on easily recalled examples, while the availability heuristic refers to using examples that are easily brought to mind when making decisions. Both heuristics can lead to biased decision-making.
Step-by-step explanation:
The representativeness heuristic refers to our tendency to evaluate new information based on the most recent or easily recalled examples. This heuristic occurs when we take easily remembered instances as being more representative than they objectively are, based on statistical probabilities. For example, people in the United States tend to overestimate the probability of dying by violent crime or terrorism because these rare occurrences are more prominent in the media and fiction, making them easily recalled.
The availability heuristic is a cognitive bias where we make decisions based on examples that easily come to mind. We assume that if we can easily remember an instance or scenario, it must have a higher likelihood of happening again. An example of this is when people anticipate rain based on recent rainy weather, even if the chances are statistically low.
The representativeness heuristic and the availability heuristic are both cognitive biases that can lead to biased decision-making by relying on subjective and easily recalled information rather than objective statistical probabilities.