On the interchangeability of presentation order for cause and effect: Experimental tests of cue and outcome-density effects.

ABSTRACT: Studies of cue-outcome contingency learning demonstrate outcome-density effects: participants typically overestimate contingencies when the outcome event is relatively frequent. Equivalent cue-density effects occur, although these have been examined less often. Few studies have simultaneously examined both event density effects or have manipulated the presentation order of the events, limiting knowledge of whether these phenomena share underlying principles. We report three well-powered experiments to address those gaps. Participants judged the effectiveness of a medical treatment after viewing a series of pairings for two events, a cause (treatment given vs. not) and an effect (patient recovered vs. not). Experiment 1 manipulated both event densities independently. We then manipulated the

SUBMITTER: Shankar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12335625 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature