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Vivid Images and the Availability Heuristic: Shark! Almost every summer, shark attacks make the headlines in newspapers and online. But how likely are you to die in a shark attack? In 2010, there were two deaths due to shark attack. In contrast, 33 people were killed by dog attacks, 29 people were killed by lightning—and 630 people were killed in bicycle accidents (International Shark Attack File, 2010). How does the availability heuristic explain why people are afraid to go to the beach after a well-publicized shark sighting?
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