Jon read an advertisement in the college newspaper that said a college student was looking for a roommate to share an apartment. The ad encouraged students who liked to cook and keep a tidy room. Jon thought, "I'll bet the student is looking not just for any college student, but rather for a female college student. I'm not even going to check this one out." Jon's informal estimate shows he may be committing which thinking error?
A) Confirmation bias
B) Conjunction fallacy
C) Illusory correlation
D) Arguing from possibility or ignorance

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jon's assumption that the student is specifically looking for a female college student falls under the conjunction fallacy, which is the tendency to believe that specific conditions are more probable than general ones. Jon is assuming that the conditions of liking to cook and keeping a tidy room require a specific gender, rather than general traits that can apply to any college student.

Jon Read an Advertisement in the College Newspaper That Said