Fighting the illusion of controlhow to make use of cue competition and alternative explanations
- Miguel A. Vadillo
- Helena Matute
- Fernando Blanco
ISSN: 1657-9267
Year of publication: 2013
Volume: 12
Issue: 1
Pages: 261-270
Type: Article
More publications in: Universitas psychologica
Abstract
Misperceptions of causality are at the heart of superstitious thinking and pseudoscience. The main goal of the present work is to show how our knowledge about the mechanisms involved in causal induction can be used to hinder the development of these beliefs. Available evidence shows that people sometimes perceive causal relationships that do not really exist. We suggest that this might be partly due to their failing to take into account alternative factors that might be playing an important causal role. The present experiment shows that providing accurate and difficult-to-ignore information about other candidate causes can be a good strategy for reducing misattributions of causality, such as illusions of control