In a recently reviewed research paper, I read about the cognitive bias known as the availability heuristic. The availability heuristic is the brain’s tendency to believe a particular event is more likely if it can easily access a memory of it. For instance, after watching a flipped coin land on tails five consecutive times, one might believe that on the sixth toss it is more likely to land on tails. In reality, however, the odds still remain equal. But since your brain has recently witnessed the event of the coin landing on tails, it makes an incorrect assumption. Furthermore, mental bias influences our judgement to more easily recall flashy, dramatic events. For instance, people often overestimate the frequency of plane crashes. In actuality, it is a generally uncommon occurrence. But, due to the intensity and significance of each crash, people can vividly recall incidents of plane crashes and therefore assume they are a major cause of death.
I was extremely interested by this topic. Humans tend to believe that they memory is so infallible, when it is actually extremely susceptible to be wrongly influenced. Understanding these biases, moreover, allows people to make less biased judgments. They are able to stop and think about if their belief is accurate or if it is simply being swayed by cognitive biases. An especially interesting point made in the paper involved the subject of court testimonies. If memory is so fallible, why are court testimonies so highly regarded in trails? The consequences of these testimonies could very well have involved sending completely innocent individuals to jail! In the future, I would like to know more about the availability heuristic affects perception of others. Do people recall more memorable individuals better? How does this affect the lives of individuals who may not be as flashy? The availability heuristic is an widely interesting topic with the potential to prompt additional studies.
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