Why does the availability heuristic sometimes lead to incorrect inferences?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is based on the idea that people judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily it comes to mind. However, what is easily brought to mind may not be typical of the big picture. For example, if someone sees a news report about a shark attack, they may overestimate the likelihood of being attacked by a shark because that example is easily accessible in their memory.

Why Does the Availability Heuristic Sometimes Lead to Incorrect Inferences