Causal illusion as a cognitive basis of pseudoscientific beliefs

TLDR

Causal illusion has been proposed as a cognitive mediator of pseudoscientific beliefs, yet prior work has only linked it to superstition and paranormal beliefs. The study used a novel pseudoscientific belief questionnaire with 225 participants and a contingency learning task in which cause and effect were non‑contingent. Higher questionnaire scores correlated with stronger causal illusion effects, supporting the hypothesis that causal phenomena underlie pseudoscientific belief endorsement.

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 phenomena might play a fundamental role in the endorsement of pseudoscientific beliefs.