Old Country Productions requires skilled furniture finishers to put the final touches on all of the furniture it produces. The firm hired two individuals last year who had been students in Mr. Tedwell's wood shop class in high school. Both of these employees have demonstrated exceptional skills and have already been promoted to senior finishing positions. The firm currently has an opening for one additional finisher. Tom, the head of the finishing section, has stipulated that he only wants to interview candidates who have completed Mr. Tedwell's course. Tom's behavior is typical of someone who has which one of the following characteristic behaviours?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Tom's behavior is indicative of the representativeness heuristic, where he assumes that because the two successful employees came from Mr. Tedwell's class, other students from the same class will also be good employees. This is a cognitive shortcut where one instance is taken to be representative of a general pattern.

Old Country Productions Requires Skilled Furniture Finishers to Put the Final