Question

George recently saw a television special on psychology. He noticed that most of the psychologists interviewed were middle-aged men. When he took his first psychology class, he was surprised to find that his professor was a young woman rather than an older, bearded man. George's surprise is probably due to his use of the:_______.

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer is the availability heuristic.

Explanation:

The availability heuristic is a mental short-cut that takes place when a person relies on immediately available, often recent information to justifiy their ideas or take decisions. In the example, when George notices his new professor was young, he was surprised because the only available information he had about psychology teachers was completely different.

This heuristic may result in poor decision-making and even stereotyping.

Answer 2

Answer: Available Heuristic

Explanation: Heuristic can simply be explained a problem solving or decision making technique which employs the use of mental shortcuts for making quick decisions. Decisions made using available Heuristic may not necessarily by rational, correct or perfect. However, they provide an immediate and quick answer to problems. Methods of available Heuristic include guesstimate, mental perception, trial and error or intuition.

George's surprise was due to the fact that previous psychologist he has seen were bearded, middle-aged men and was surprised on sighting a young woman in his first psychology class based on his use of available heuristic.