Question

Which of the following most accurately describes the availability heuristic?

1) People are prone to using incorrect statistics to answer questions.
2) When asked a question, people struggle to answer because they do not have enough information to answer the question.
3) When asked a question, people only use information in their environment to answer.
4) People assess the frequency of an incident depending on how quickly an example comes to mind.

Answer 1

The availability heuristic is the tendency to evaluate new information based on easily recalled examples and assess the frequency of an incident based on how quickly an example comes to mind.

Step-by-step explanation:

The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to evaluate new information based on the most recent or most easily recalled examples. It occurs when people take easily remembered instances as being more representative than they objectively are. People assess the frequency of an incident depending on how quickly an example comes to mind. For example, people in the United States estimate the probability of dying by violent crime or terrorism much more highly than they ought to, because these instances are prominent in the news media and fiction.