Which cognitive phenomenon can lead individuals to assume that memorable events are more frequent?

The availability heuristic is a cognitive phenomenon where individuals rely on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision. This mental shortcut can lead people to overestimate the frequency or likelihood of memorable events simply because they are more easily recalled or vividly remembered.

For instance, if someone recently heard about plane crashes in the news, they might assume such events are common, despite statistical evidence showing they are rare. The prominence of that information in their memory makes it feel more prevalent. This can lead individuals to make judgments based on emotional reactions or memorable occurrences instead of actual data, skewing their perception of reality.

The other concepts, such as confirmation bias, prototype effect, and framing effect, do not specifically address the way memory influences perceived frequency. Confirmation bias focuses on seeking information that supports one’s existing beliefs, the prototype effect relates to categorization and exemplars, and the framing effect deals with how information is presented and its impact on decision-making. Thus, the availability heuristic is the most fitting answer to the question about the assumption of frequency based on memorable events.