Which pickup pattern is characterized as heart-shaped and unidirectional?

The correct choice, characterized as heart-shaped and unidirectional, is the cardioid pickup pattern. This pattern is designed to pick up sound primarily from the front, while rejecting noise from the sides and rear. The heart-shaped design represents its sensitivity to sound; it captures audio sources located directly in front of the microphone, making it especially useful in settings where background noise or sound from other directions needs to be minimized, such as in interviews or solo recordings.

In contrast, options like omnidirectional capture sound equally from all directions and therefore do not have a unidirectional characteristic, which contrasts the focused reception of the cardioid. Super-cardioid and hyper-cardioid patterns also have some sensitivity at the rear but extend their reach slightly more than cardioid. This means while they are still primarily directional, they are less focused on front sound pickup than a cardioid, leading to increased capture of background noise from the rear.