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cognition
You do not know why you reached that conclusion.
The confabulation effect occurs when you provide a logical reason for an action that was actually caused by a subconscious prime or hidden influence.
When the true reason for a choice is hidden, your brain does not accept 'I don't know' as an answer. Instead, it constructs a plausible, logical-sounding narrative to explain your behavior to yourself.
Your brain is a better storyteller than it is an observer.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Nisbett and Wilson, 1977
- What the check found
- The claim accurately describes the finding of the 1977 paper, even if the label 'confabulation' was popularized later to describe this specific behavior of manufacturing reasons for unconscious choices.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.