The availability heuristic is an old mental foible that I've written about before, and the short version is that the easier it is to remember of examples of something, the more prevalent, frequent ...

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that occurs when our brains assess the likelihood of an event or the importance of information based on how easily it comes to mind. In other words ...

Availability bias begins with a cognitive tool largely referred to as the “availability heuristic.” In simple terms, the availability heuristic is the mental shortcut we humans take when we ...

All of the above examples, including the purchase of new clothing items are behaviors that exhibit availability heuristic.

And that brings us back to the availability heuristic. This is broadly defined as making a decision or leaping to a conclusion based on the most immediately recalled memory that relates to that idea.

The availability heuristic describes how people often form their assessment of conditions or events by drawing from examples that are most easily available to their memory.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Maurer covers how personal finance is more personal than finance. Nonetheless, the availability heuristic’s power to ...