What is the availability heuristic? A heuristic is a strategy that allows us to make quick judgments. It's an error-prone mental shortcut. They can cause even extremely intelligent people to make unwise decisions or assumptions. The availability heuristic is when we estimate the probability of events due to their mental availability. Mental availability ranges from casino bells, which make someone believe they will win, to an article about car accidents, which makes someone believe they are at greater risk of being involved in a car accident. Disposal can be perpetuated by misleading media reports that don't show the full story. The availability heuristic neglects other information, such as how many people are losing at the casino, or how many people have not been in car accidents.Availability Heuristic Problems One availability heuristic problem that the video focuses on is the spread of misinformation. A newscast reported unwarranted claims of increased incidences of road rage, Triple A used it as evidence that road rage was on the rise, and then the newscast knows...