Thinking fast and biased: intuitive thinking style is associated with the illusion of causality

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dc.contributor.authorBlanco Bregón, Fernando
dc.contributor.authorMoreno Fernández, María Manuela
dc.contributor.authorMatute, Helena
dc.date.accessioned2026-04-30T14:19:54Z
dc.date.available2026-04-30T14:19:54Z
dc.date.issued2026-05-01
dc.date.updated2026-04-30T14:19:53Z
dc.description.abstractThe illusion of causality is a cognitive bias in which individuals believe that a potential cause produces an outcome even when the contingency between the two is null. Although no definitive theoretical explanation has been established for this bias, it has been linked to heuristic or associative processes that operate automatically and rely on intuition rather than deliberate reasoning. In this paper, we present two pre-registered studies examining the relationship between intuitive–deliberate thinking styles and the causal illusion. In Experiment 1, consistent with previous findings, we did not observe a significant association between the variables. However, a re-analysis revealed that participants displaying extreme response patterns (i.e., introducing the target cause in all trials) accounted for this result. Consequently, Experiment 2 addressed this issue by controlling the exposure to cause-present and cause-absent trials, eventually producing the expected pattern: the illusion was positively associated with intuitive thinking styles (Close-Minded Thinking, Preference for Intuitive Thinking) and negatively associated with a deliberate style (Actively Open-Minded Thinking).en
dc.description.sponsorshipSupport for this research was provided by Grant PID2021-126320NB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and, by “ERDF A way of making Europe”, as well as Grant IT1696-22 from the Basque Government. The Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center receives funding from grants CEX2023-001312-M by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and UCE-PP2023-11 by the University of Granadaen
dc.identifier.citationBlanco, F., Moreno-Fernández, M. M., & Matute, H. (2026). Thinking fast and biased: intuitive thinking style is associated with the illusion of causality. Consciousness and Cognition, 141. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONCOG.2026.104045
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/J.CONCOG.2026.104045
dc.identifier.eissn1090-2376
dc.identifier.issn1053-8100
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14454/5841
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAcademic Press Inc.
dc.rights© 2026 The Author(s)
dc.subject.otherCognitive bias
dc.subject.otherIllusion of causality
dc.subject.otherIntuitive thinking
dc.subject.otherThinking styles
dc.titleThinking fast and biased: intuitive thinking style is associated with the illusion of causalityen
dc.typejournal article
dcterms.accessRightsopen access
oaire.citation.titleConsciousness and Cognition
oaire.citation.volume141
oaire.licenseConditionhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
oaire.versionVoR
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