Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced
Illusions of causality occur when people develop the belief that there is a causal connection between two events that are actually unrelated. Such illusions have been proposed to underlie pseudoscience and superstitious thinking, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences in relation to critical l...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888/full |
| _version_ | 1819083658457251840 |
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| author | Helena eMatute Fernando eBlanco Ion eYarritu Marcos eDiaz-Lago Miguel A. Vadillo Itxaso ebarberia |
| author_facet | Helena eMatute Fernando eBlanco Ion eYarritu Marcos eDiaz-Lago Miguel A. Vadillo Itxaso ebarberia |
| author_sort | Helena eMatute |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Illusions of causality occur when people develop the belief that there is a causal connection between two events that are actually unrelated. Such illusions have been proposed to underlie pseudoscience and superstitious thinking, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences in relation to critical life areas, such as health, finances, and wellbeing. Like optical illusions, they can occur for anyone under well-known conditions. Scientific thinking is the best possible safeguard against them, but it does not come intuitively and needs to be taught. Teaching how to think scientifically should benefit from better understanding of the illusion of causality. In this article, we review experiments that our group has conducted on the illusion of causality during the last 20 years. We discuss how research on the illusion of causality can contribute to the teaching of scientific thinking and how scientific thinking can reduce illusion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:36:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a31a95703dcd4fb6862212f8d6eeea9e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:36:04Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-a31a95703dcd4fb6862212f8d6eeea9e2022-12-21T18:51:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782015-07-01610.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888146427Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reducedHelena eMatute0Fernando eBlanco1Ion eYarritu2Marcos eDiaz-Lago3Miguel A. Vadillo4Itxaso ebarberia5Universidad de DeustoUniversidad de DeustoUniversidad de DeustoUniversidad de DeustoKing's College LondonUniversitat de BarcelonaIllusions of causality occur when people develop the belief that there is a causal connection between two events that are actually unrelated. Such illusions have been proposed to underlie pseudoscience and superstitious thinking, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences in relation to critical life areas, such as health, finances, and wellbeing. Like optical illusions, they can occur for anyone under well-known conditions. Scientific thinking is the best possible safeguard against them, but it does not come intuitively and needs to be taught. Teaching how to think scientifically should benefit from better understanding of the illusion of causality. In this article, we review experiments that our group has conducted on the illusion of causality during the last 20 years. We discuss how research on the illusion of causality can contribute to the teaching of scientific thinking and how scientific thinking can reduce illusion.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888/fullcausal learningcognitive biasesillusion of controlillusion of causalityscientific thinkingScientific methods |
| spellingShingle | Helena eMatute Fernando eBlanco Ion eYarritu Marcos eDiaz-Lago Miguel A. Vadillo Itxaso ebarberia Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced Frontiers in Psychology causal learning cognitive biases illusion of control illusion of causality scientific thinking Scientific methods |
| title | Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| title_full | Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| title_fullStr | Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| title_full_unstemmed | Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| title_short | Illusions of causality: How they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| title_sort | illusions of causality how they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced |
| topic | causal learning cognitive biases illusion of control illusion of causality scientific thinking Scientific methods |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888/full |
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