Question

Gerard Yoder believes that every time he picks up his daughter, Penny, from school, it brings him good luck. The last time he picked her up from school, he won a lottery ticket. Today, after he received her from school, he reached his office and found out that he has been promoted. Which of the following concepts best describes Yoder's belief?
(A) Bandwagon effect
(B) Positive bias
(C) Affect intensity
(D) Illusory correlation

Answer 1

Answer:    D. Illusory correlation

Explanation:  It is a kind of perception of the relationship between people, events, actions, behaviours, when such perception creates the wrong impression of connection even though it does not exist in reality. As in this case, Gerard created the perception that there was a connection between the action when he went to pick up his daughter from school and the good fortune event, believing that the action was causing his good fortune. Of course this is not true, there is no correlation here except in his perception which he himself created, therefore, is beyond reality. Such correlations in perception occur when some unusual, rare things or events occur that are not common, and as such they attract attention, and then, those who have experienced such unusual things perceive it by associating it with something in order to "explain" this phenomenon.

Studies of illusory correlations can be interesting and important because they show how illusions and biases can be derived from ordinary cognitive mechanisms, by those who perceive an event or phenomenon.