base rate fallacy

noun

1. statistics the tendency, when making judgments of the probability with which an event will occur, to ignore the base rate and to concentrate on other information

Example Sentences

But this perception is an example of a phenomenon known as the base rate fallacy.

Read more on Scientific American

If the denominator you chose in a calculation—the thing you’re dividing by—is the wrong one, you have fallen victim to what is called “the base rate fallacy.”

Read more on Slate