Heuristics are like back of the env

Heuristics are like back of the envelope calculations that sometimes come close to providing the right answer. But heuristics may involve bias, meaning they may tend to be off target in a particular direction, and this can apply to an availability heuristic also. Most people rely on the media for their information about homicides and strokes. Suppose that the media tends to report one cause of death more than the other, because one is newsworthy and the other is not. Then people who rely on an availability heuristic may recall instances related to one type of death more readily than the other. Therefore, media coverage biases a rule based on recall.