ABSTRACT
When we approach decisions, we tend to take into account the information that is readily available. However, there are situations when certain types of information are prioritized over more important details. The term base-rate neglect applies to any case where a prior probability is not sufficiently weighted in reasoning. Base-rate neglect comes in many forms and has important consequences in applied areas like medical decision-making, but also everyday decision-making and reasoning. In this chapter we will outline some of the ways that the base-rate fallacy has been investigated, discuss a debate about the extent of base-rate use, and, focusing on one particular form of base-rate neglect, we will outline recent work on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the tendency to underweight or ignore base-rate information.
