Suppose you meet someone who is smart, adventurous, and highly knowledgeable about rockets and outer space. Even though there are not many astronauts in the world, you might immediately assume that this person is an astronaut just because he or she fits your image of what an astronaut is like. That is, you might ____ and rely on the ____.
A)commit the base rate fallacy; representativeness heuristic
B)commit the conjunction fallacy; representativeness heuristic
C)engage in the confirmation bias; availability heuristic
D)engage in the false consensus effect; availability heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the base rate fallacy, where one ignores statistical information (the low number of astronauts) in favor of stereotypical traits (smart, adventurous, knowledgeable about space). The representativeness heuristic is used when making a judgment based on how much an individual represents a certain category or group, in this case, an astronaut.

Suppose You Meet Someone Who Is Smart, Adventurous, and Highly