When Lilly overstates the risk of swimming due to the risk of shark attack, she is employing a(n)

(a) Availability heuristic
(b) Programmed decision-making process
(c) Escalation of commitment
(d) Representative heuristic
✅ Correct option: (a) Availability heuristic
Explanation: She relies on vivid, memorable events (shark attacks), making them seem more common than they are.