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cognition
You see patterns that do not actually exist.
Humans are prone to perceiving relationships between two independent events because they share a superficial similarity.
A classic study showed that clinicians wrongly associated certain personality traits with specific drawings made by patients. Even when presented with data showing no correlation, the brain clings to its initial expectation. You interpret events as causal simply because your mind expected them to be linked.
Your brain loves a pattern more than it loves the truth.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Chapman and Chapman, 1967
- What the check found
- The claim accurately describes the illusory correlation phenomenon established in the cited 1967 paper, even though the provided reference text did not contain the specific study details.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.