Priming and Frequency Estimation

Abstract
An experiment was conducted as a strict test of the availability heuristic. The availability of words containing a particular kiter was directly manipulated through a subliminal priming procedure. Subjects primed with words containing the letter T later judged the letter T to occur more frequently in the English language than did unprimed subjects. The data provide direct evidence regarding the mediating process underlying use of the availability heuristic. Ease of retrieval forms the basis for frequency estimation.