The availability bias is a cognitive shortcut that relies on what immediately comes to mind to make quick decisions and judgments. The information might be derived from recent or particularly vivid memories. It might also be based on personal experience or fueled by outside sources such as news outlets or the internet.
Does availability bias affect a student's self-evaluation?
As seen in the assertiveness study by Schwarz et al. (1991), the availability bias can impact students’ evaluations of their own assertiveness (see ‘Examples – Self-Evaluation’).
What is availability bias according to Marx & Weber?
According to Marx and Weber (2012), availability bias or the availability heuristic refers to the human tendency to judge an event by the ease with which examples of the event can be retrieved from your memory or constructed anew. View our comprehensive playlist of revision videos on behavioural economics over on the Tutor2u Youtube Channel:
Do media representations of risks influence availability bias?
The way that these biases manifest is likely to be heavily influenced by media representations of risks. Availability bias is a concept within the economic subfield of behavioral economics, which focuses specifically on the human behavior-related factors that influence economic decisions by both individual people and larger institutions.
