People rely on _______ when they judge the frequency or probability of some event by the readiness with which similar events come to mind

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

In this question, we’re asked to identify the term used when people judge how often or how probable an event is based on how easily related examples come to mind.
Option 1: The representativeness heuristic. This heuristic involves judging something by how similar it is to a typical case or stereotype, not by the ease of recalling examples. So it doesn't fit the description of judging frequency by mental availability.
Option 2: Top-down processing. This is a general cognitive approach where perception is influenced by prior knowledge, expectations, or schemas. While it can affect judgments, it doesn’t specifically refer to reliance on readily recalled instances to gauge frequency.
Option 3: Fluency. Fluency refers to the ease with which information is processed, which can influence judgment in some contexts, but the question targets the mechanism of recalling similar events to estimate frequency, not processing ease per se.
Option 4: The availability heuristic. This is the classic explanation: people assess the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind, which often reflects recent exposure or vividness rather than actual base rates. This directly matches the described phenomenon.
Thus, the correct option is the one that aligns with judging frequency by how readily similar events are recalled, which is best captured by the availability heuristic. The other options describe different cognitive processes or biases that do not capture this specific reliance on memory accessibility for frequency judgments.

2261 PSY 0105 SEC1000 Final Exam- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

People rely on _______ when they judge the frequency or probability of some event by the readiness with which similar events come to mind

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