When random people are polled in a local shopping mall, many of them report that more people die in plane crashes than in car crashes each year despite the fact that the exact opposite is the truth. This error is caused by the ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision. Plane crashes are more memorable and receive more media coverage than car crashes, leading people to overestimate their frequency.

When Random People Are Polled in a Local Shopping Mall