Persistence of Causal Illusions After Extensive Training

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Itxaso Barberia¹  Miguel A. Vadillo²  Javier Rodríguez-Ferreiro¹ 

[1] Universitat de Barcelona;Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid;Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona

关键词: causal illusion;    illusion of causality;    contingency learning;    causal learning;    extensive training;    Rescorla-Wagner model;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00024

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

We carried out an experiment using a conventional causal learning task but extending the number of learning trials participants were exposed to. Participants in the standard training group were exposed to 48 learning trials before being asked about the potential causal relationship under examination, whereas for participants in the long training group the length of training was extended to 288 trials. In both groups, the event acting as the potential cause had zero correlation with the occurrence of the outcome, but both the outcome density and the cause density were high, therefore providing a breeding ground for the emergence of a causal illusion. In contradiction to the predictions of associative models such the Rescorla-Wagner model, we found moderate evidence against the hypothesis that extending the learning phase alters the causal illusion. However, assessing causal impressions recurrently did weaken participants’ causal illusions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY