Risk Perception

December 2024

• Dec 31, 2024ConceptsThe Affect Heuristic: How Feelings Become Facts About RiskPaul Slovic found that people who feel positively about nuclear power judge its risks as low and its benefits as high.21 MIN7.1k

November 2024

• Nov 10, 2024ConceptsThe Availability Heuristic and Media: Why What Comes to Mind Feels Like What Is TrueTversky and Kahneman asked subjects whether more English words begin with the letter K or have K as their third letter. Most said K-first, wrong by a factor of three. Words starting with K are just easier to retrieve. The availability heuristic: we judge probability and frequency by how easily examples come to mind, not by how common they actually are. The science behind risk misperception, media effects, and why we fear the wrong things.18 MIN6.9k

December 2022

• Dec 20, 2022ConceptsAvailability Heuristic Psychology: How This Cognitive Bias Works in the BrainThe availability heuristic makes us judge probability by how easily examples come to mind. Learn how it distorts risk perception and how to...18 MIN1.6k

August 2022

• Aug 25, 2022ConceptsThe Availability Cascade: Media Influence on PerceptionThe availability cascade explains how repeated media coverage turns unverified claims into perceived facts.13 MIN5.4k