Results for "apophenia"

Knowledge articles (3)

Why Humans See Patterns Where None Exist: From Faces in Clouds to Repeating Numbers in Life

Apophenia explains why the brain sees faces in clouds, repeating numbers and patterns in random data. Learn the mechanisms and where the line to delusion lies.

Psychology

Illusory correlation: why two events happening close together make the brain think one causes the other

Illusory correlation is the tendency to see a link between two events when none exists, because rare and striking events draw more attention and are easier to recall.

Psychology

The 1948 Forer Experiment: A Whole Class Received the Same Personality Description and Everyone Felt It Was Accurate, Plus How to Test It Yourself in Ten Minutes

In 1948, Bertram Forer gave 39 students the identical personality description taken from an astrology book, and the class still rated it highly accurate.