TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1978//
TI  - Judged frequency of lethal events
JO  - Journal of experimental psychology: human learning and memory
A1  - Lichtenstein, Sarah
A1  - Slovic, Paul
A1  - Fischhoff, Baruch
A1  - Layman, Mark
A1  - Combs, Barbara
SP  - 551
EP  - 578
VL  - 4
IS  - 6
N2  - A series of 5 experiments with 660 adult Ss studied how people judge the frequency of death from various causes. The judgments exhibited a highly consistent but systematically biased subjective scale of frequency. Two kinds of bias were identified: (a) a tendency to overestimate small frequencies and underestimate larger ones; and (b) a tendency to exaggerate the frequency of some specific causes and to underestimate the frequency of others, at any given level of objective frequency. These biases were traced to a number of possible sources, including disproportionate exposure, memorability, or imaginability of various events. Ss were unable to correct for these sources of bias when specifically instructed to avoid them. Comparisons with previous laboratory studies are discussed, along with methods for improving frequency judgments and the implications of the present findings for the management of societal hazards. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 0096-1515
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.6.551
ID  - ref1
ER  -