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Causal illusion as a cognitive basis of pseudoscientific beliefs.
- Source :
-
British Journal of Psychology . Nov2020, Vol. 111 Issue 4, p840-852. 13p. 1 Graph. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Causal illusion has been proposed as a cognitive mediator of pseudoscientific beliefs. However, previous studies have only tested the association between this cognitive bias and a closely related but different type of unwarranted beliefs, those related to superstition and paranormal phenomena. Participants (n = 225) responded to a novel questionnaire of pseudoscientific beliefs designed for this study. They also completed a contingency learning task in which a possible cause, infusion intake, and a desired effect, headache remission, were actually non‐contingent. Volunteers with higher scores on the questionnaire also presented stronger causal illusion effects. These results support the hypothesis that causal illusions might play a fundamental role in the endorsement of pseudoscientific beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00071269
- Volume :
- 111
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- British Journal of Psychology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 146469257
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12441