ABSTRACT

News media stories over the next three months informed the public that Goetz had made statements that he would do it again to protect himself from "punks" like the three young men. The stories also revealed that one youth was shot in the back as he was running away, and that Goetz had shot one youth twice. One or the most fundamental distinctions that provides insight into changes of public opinion over time, surveys, and geographical areas is that the context surrounding the decision making task matters a great deal. When people are asked questions in national opinion polls, the decision task has many features that lead people to use shortcuts in forming a response. Respondents feel time pressure as questions are asked one after another in rapid succession. When people form responses based on information about the topic that is easily recalled, they use what is known as an availability heuristic or accessibility bias.