Definition of Availability heuristic The availability heuristic refers to a cognitive bias in which one reasons or makes inferences based on easily remembered information or recently encountered information. It is also called the ease heuristic because it evaluates based on information that is easy to remember. Features of the Availability heuristic The availability heuristic makes us prefer information that can be easily figured out over objective information or statistics. Limited rationality leads to availability heuristics. In other words, the availability heuristic is in contrast to rational judgment. Humans have been learning the availability heuristic to make quick decisions in hunting and gathering for thousands of years. If you try to make rational judgments even in your daily thoughts, you will be wasting time and mentality. The availability heuristic leads to overestimating the big things that rarely happen over the small things that happen often. E