Most people incorrectly think that "r" appears more often as the first letter of a word than as the third letter. This belief stems from the use of the _____ heuristic, based on the way we _____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. In this case, people may remember and recall more words that start with "r" than those that have "r" as the third letter, leading them to believe that it appears more often as the first letter. This misconception is not based on categorization, which is why option B is incorrect. The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to make judgments based on how well something fits our prototype or stereotype, which is not the case here, making option C incorrect.

Most People Incorrectly Think That "R" Appears More Often as the First