Jeffrey lives in a small country town but fears a terrorist attack.When discussing the possibility,he states that he sees these attacks are repeatedly reported in the news.This demonstrates how ________ can feed misinformation.
A) false news
B) religion
C) availability of powerful examples
D) group identity

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of how the availability heuristic can feed misinformation. The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut where people make judgments based on how easily examples come to mind. In this case, Jeffrey is overly concerned about a terrorist attack because he has seen many reports of them in the news, even though the likelihood of an attack in his small country town is low.

Jeffrey Lives in a Small Country Town but Fears a Terrorist