Dan recently watched a television programme about rabies, and those animals that are typically carriers of the disease. Last night, when he stepped outside to call his cat, he saw a stray dog wandering across his yard. The animal acted strangely and came straight towards him. Dan immediately decided it must have rabies. He made his decision based on ________.
A)exemplars
B)an algorithm
C)a representativeness heuristic
D)an availability heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a cognitive bias that occurs when people make judgments based on information that is easily accessible in their memory. In this case, Dan has recently watched a television programme about rabies, so the information about rabies is easily accessible in his memory. As a result, he is more likely to believe that the stray dog has rabies, even though there is no other evidence to support this belief.

Dan Recently Watched a Television Programme About Rabies, and Those