Suppose an insurance salesman in Southern California is trying to predict the likelihood of a client's house being damaged by an earthquake in order to estimate insurance premium costs.Within the last several weeks, there were three moderate earthquakes that received lots of media coverage and several stories in the news related to earthquakes.In what cognitive heuristic is the salesman most likely to engage?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The salesman is most likely to engage in the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments based on the ease with which examples or instances come to mind. The recent media coverage of earthquakes makes this information easily accessible and therefore more likely to influence the salesman's estimate of earthquake risk.

Suppose an Insurance Salesman in Southern California Is Trying to Predict