{"id":26228,"date":"2021-02-14T09:34:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T13:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=26228"},"modified":"2021-02-24T19:58:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T23:58:44","slug":"availability-heuristic-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Availability Heuristic Bias: The Trap of Prior Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-bias\/\">availability heuristic<\/a> bias? How does it influence behavior and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-availability-heuristic\/\">The availability heuristic<\/a> bias is the tendency to make snap judgments and decisions based on what we already know. This psychological tendency is just one of a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cognitive-heuristics\/\">cognitive heuristics<\/a>\u00a0that sabotage critical thinking and, as a result, compromise the validity of our decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the availability heuristic bias and its role in behavior and decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is the Availability Heuristic Bias?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The availability heuristic bias was formally discovered and named by researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/daniel-kahneman-and-amos-tversky\/\">Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky<\/a> to describe the automatic process of making <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/snap-decisions\/\">snap decisions<\/a> based on memorable experiences. This is also an adaptive evolutionary trait. For example, if hearing the snap of a twig on the savannah brings to mind a memory of a lion pouncing on its prey, you automatically conclude that a lion must be the source of the sound and that you are in danger. If you\u2019ve never witnessed or heard of a lion attack, you\u2019ll interpret the sound differently (and not realize the danger you\u2019re in). The availability heuristic plays out unconsciously, in fractions of a second.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why does this matter for decision-making? <strong>Automatically using our experience to make snap judgments is lifesaving\u2014<em>if<\/em> the sound was actually made by a lion. But what if it wasn\u2019t? <\/strong>At best, you\u2019ve just spiked your heart rate for no reason. At worst, you act on your false assumption and attack whatever (or <em>whoever<\/em>)<em> <\/em>actually made the sound. When we use false assumptions to guide decisions, consequences can add up quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the availability heuristic bias? How does it influence behavior and decision-making? The availability heuristic bias is the tendency to make snap judgments and decisions based on what we already know. This psychological tendency is just one of a number of cognitive heuristics\u00a0that sabotage critical thinking and, as a result, compromise the validity of our decisions. Keep reading to learn about the availability heuristic bias and its role in behavior and decision-making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[203],"class_list":["post-26228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-superforecasting","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Availability Heuristic Bias: The Trap of Prior Knowledge - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The availability heuristic bias is the process of making decisions based on what we already know. It is also an adaptive evolutionary trait.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Availability Heuristic Bias: The Trap of Prior Knowledge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The availability heuristic bias is the process of making decisions based on what we already know. It is also an adaptive evolutionary trait.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-14T13:34:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-24T23:58:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-heuristics-and-biases.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"776\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Availability Heuristic Bias: The Trap of Prior Knowledge\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-14T13:34:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-24T23:58:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\"},\"wordCount\":277,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-heuristics-and-biases.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Superforecasting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/\",\"name\":\"Availability Heuristic Bias: The Trap of Prior Knowledge - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/availability-heuristic-bias\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking-heuristics-and-biases.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-14T13:34:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-24T23:58:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"The availability heuristic bias is the process of making decisions based on what we already know. 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