Question

mark is 64, weighs 200 pounds, and is very muscular. people who think that mark is more likely to be a football player than an engineer are victims of _________.
a. the recognition heuristic
b. confirmation bias
c. the representativeness heuristic
d. belief bias

please select the best answer from the choices provided

a
b
c
d

Explanation:

Analyze the scenario and options

The scenario describes Mark as 6'4", 200 pounds, and very muscular. People who judge him as more likely to be a football player than an engineer are matching his physical description to their mental prototype of a football player.

Identify the cognitive bias or heuristic

Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes is the definition of the representativeness heuristic. This often leads people to ignore base rates (the fact that there are far more engineers than professional football players).

Match with the correct option

• Option A (recognition heuristic) involves decision-making based on whether a stimulus is recognized.
• Option B (confirmation bias) is the tendency to search for and favor information that confirms prior beliefs.
• Option C (representativeness heuristic) is the correct match for judging based on similarity to a prototype.
• Option D (belief bias) is the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning.

Answer:

• A. the recognition heuristic
• B. confirmation bias
• C. the representativeness heuristic (Correct answer)
• D. belief bias