Question

Although travelers in the United States are more likely to die in an automobile crash than on a commercial flight covering the same distance, people often assume that flying is more dangerous than driving, particularly after watching the new about an airline accident. What type of heuristic are people using when they make this assumption?

Answer 1

Answer:

availability heuristic

Explanation:

A heuristic is the strategy a person takes in order to make a judgement by focusing on the information which is most relevant.

Availability heuristic is the strategy a person uses by relying on immediate examples that a person remembers in order to make sense of a situation.

Here, people have a higher fear of flying when they fly close to the date when there was a plane crash in the near past. They neglect the fact that in statistical terms it is safer to fly in an airplane than to travel by the highway.