Behavior and illusions: a model to study superstition in a participant replacement experiment

Abstract

The notion of superstitious behavior can provide a basic background for understanding such notions as illusions and beliefs. The present study investigated the social mechanism of the transmission of superstitious behavior in an experiment that utilized participant replacement. The sample was composed of a total of 38 participants. Participants performed a task on a computer: they could click a colored rectangle using the mouse. When the rectangle was in a particular color, the participants received points independently of their behavior (variable time schedule). When the color of the rectangle was changed, no points were presented (extinction). Under an Individual Exposure condition, ten participants worked alone on the task. Other participants were exposed to the same experimental task under a Social Exposure condition, in which each participant first learned by observation and then worked on the task in a participant replacement (chain) procedure. The first participant in each chain in the Social Exposure condition was a confederate who worked on the task "superstitiously," clicking the rectangle when points were presented. Superstitious responding was transmitted because of the behavior of the confederate. This also influenced estimates of personal control. These findings suggest that social learning can facilitate the acquisition and maintenance of superstitious behavior and the illusion of control. Our data also suggest that superstitious behavior and the illusion of control may involve similar learning principles.

Rachlin's extended self: Influences on a Brazilian research group

“…Some of Rachlin's influences on the way our particular Brazilian group engages in behavioral sciences go beyond the series of seminars herein presented. It is starting to show in our recent works: Some explore the intersections between judgments of the illusion of control and schedules of reinforcement (Benvenuti et al, 2018a; Benvenuti et al, 2018b); others develop methods to study schedules of reinforcement outside the animal laboratory using Beak , a computational routine that simulates rates of behavior interacting with several different schedules of reinforcement (Silveira et al, 2022). This is the beginning of a series of studies that will constitute a program of research on normative rules for schedules of reinforcement, including Rachlin's contributions on choice, matching, and maximization.…”

Research and Training in Culturo-Behavior Science

“…Subsequently, Benvenuti et al ( 2018 ) evaluated the social transmission of superstitious behavior in an experiment involving participant replacement (inspired by Caldwell & Millen’s, 2008a , 2008b , 2009 , procedure to study cumulative cultural evolution). The experiment begins with the first participant observing a confederate who behaves “superstitiously,” engaging in a high rate of responses when points are presented independent of behavior and not responding when points are not presented.…”

Editorial: Emerging Cultural and Behavioral Systems Science

“…For example, the role of verbal behavior in the creation and transmission of cultural practices is often assumed yet rarely studied (see Smith et al 2011;Smith et al 2012, as exceptions). Several studies highlight the importance of communication in coordinating responding across experimental microculture members (e.g., Sampaio et al 2013;Vichi et al 2009) and in the transmission of repertoires across generations (e.g., Benvenuti et al 2018;Marques and Tourinho 2015). However, it is less common to see an analysis of the verbal behavior emitted in experimental work even if the role of communication has been emphasized in a subset of the literature emphasizing effective leadership practices (see Houmanfar and Mattaini 2018).…”