Illusory perception of visual patterns in pure noise is associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs

Hartmann, Matthias; Müller, Petra

doi:10.1177/20416695221144732

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…This might explain why participants in the houses condition had a more liberal criterion compared to the faces condition. A more varied stimulus set might elicit more creative responses and might therefore set the circumstances under which a relationship between irrational beliefs and illusory pattern perception can be more clearly observed 29 , 50 . Future studies should take stimulus set characteristics into account.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relationship between paranormal beliefs in particular and the illusory pattern perception in random sequences has been demonstrated frequently 24 – 28 and can also be observed in visual pattern detection tasks such as face or object detection 28 – 31 and image categorization 32 . The link between illusory pattern perception and conspiracy theory endorsement has been tested less extensively, but findings suggest they might be connected in a similar fashion 28 , 29 , although conflicting findings exist 19 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking paranormal and conspiracy beliefs to illusory pattern perception through signal detection theory

Müller

Hartmann

2023

Sci Rep

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Previous research indicates that irrational beliefs (Paranormal beliefs & conspiracy theory endorsement) are associated with the perception of patterns in noise, but the previous findings do not conclusively describe this relationship. This study aims to disentangle the underlying parameters of this association by applying a signal detection theory approach, thus allowing to distinguish illusory pattern perception (false alarms) from perceptual sensitivity and response tendencies—while also taking base rate information into account. Results from a large sample (N = 723) indicate that paranormal beliefs relate to a more liberal response bias and a lower perceptual sensitivity, and that this relationship is driven by illusory pattern perception. Such a clear pattern could not be observed for conspiracy beliefs, for which the increase in false alarm rates was moderated by the base rate. The associations between irrational beliefs and illusory pattern perception were however less substantial compared to other sources of variance. Implications are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking paranormal and conspiracy beliefs to illusory pattern perception through signal detection theory

Müller

Hartmann

2023

Sci Rep

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“…RUNNING HEAD: Insight in the conspiracist's mind 13 At least in the sense that conspiracists seek out optimal or resolvable disfluencies, it would be wrong to say (as is often proclaimed, e.g., McDonald-Gibson, 2022) that conspiracy believers cling to conspiracy theories because they provide them with 'easy answers' about their world. When the literature on conspiracy theories acknowledges that these ideas are successful in part because they respond to epistemic needs, this is too often immediately reduced to the conspiracist's tendency to avoid uncertainty and to see patterns where there are none (Biddlestone et al, 2022;Brotherton & French, 2014;Hartmann & Müller, 2023;van Prooijen, Douglas, et al, 2018). The role of an optimal level of uncertainty or disfluency in epistemic experiences suggests this cannot be the complete story.…”

Section: Beyond Processing Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight in the conspiracist’s mind

Cruys¹,

Bervoets²,

Gadsby³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The motto of the conspiracist, “Do your own research,” may seem ludicrous to scientists. Indeed, it is often dismissed as a mere rhetorical device that conspiracists use to give themselves the semblance of science. In this perspective paper, we explore the information-seeking activities (“research”) that conspiracists do engage in. Drawing on the experimental psychology of aha experiences, we explain how these activities, as well as the epistemic experiences that precede (curiosity) or follow (insight or “aha” experiences) them, may play a crucial role in the appeal and development of conspiracy beliefs. Aha moments have properties that can be exploited by conspiracy theories, such as the potential for false but seemingly grounded conclusions. Finally, we hypothesize that the need for autonomous epistemic agency and discovery is universal but increases as people experience more uncertainty and/or feel epistemically excluded in society, hence linking it to existing literature on explaining conspiracy theories.

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“…At least in the sense that conspiracists seek out optimal or resolvable disfluencies, it would be wrong to say (as is often proclaimed, e.g., McDonald-Gibson, 2022) that conspiracy believers cling to conspiracy theories because they provide them with "easy answers" about their world. When the literature on conspiracy theories acknowledges that these ideas are successful in part because they respond to epistemic needs, this is too often immediately reduced to the conspiracist's tendency to avoid uncertainty and to see patterns where there are none (Biddlestone et al, 2022;Brotherton & French, 2014;Hartmann & Müller, 2023;van Prooijen, Douglas, & De Inocencio, 2018). The role of an optimal level of uncertainty or disfluency in epistemic experiences suggests this cannot be the complete story.…”

Section: Beyond Processing Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Insight in the Conspiracist’s Mind

Van de Cruys,

Bervoets,

Gadsby

et al. 2023

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

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Academic Abstract The motto of the conspiracist, “Do your own research,” may seem ludicrous to scientists. Indeed, it is often dismissed as a mere rhetorical device that conspiracists use to give themselves the semblance of science. In this perspective paper, we explore the information-seeking activities (“research”) that conspiracists do engage in. Drawing on the experimental psychology of aha experiences, we explain how these activities, as well as the epistemic experiences that precede (curiosity) or follow (insight or “aha” experiences) them, may play a crucial role in the appeal and development of conspiracy beliefs. Aha moments have properties that can be exploited by conspiracy theories, such as the potential for false but seemingly grounded conclusions. Finally, we hypothesize that the need for autonomous epistemic agency and discovery is universal but increases as people experience more uncertainty and/or feel epistemically excluded in society, hence linking it to existing literature on explaining conspiracy theories. Public Abstract Recent events have made it painfully clear that conspiracy beliefs can tear deep rifts in society and that we still have not found an adequate, de-escalating response to this. To understand the appeal of conspiracy theories and find new, humanizing ways to talk about them, we propose in this perspective paper to start from the universal human need to autonomously make discoveries through personal knowledge-generating actions. Indeed, psychological research shows that the aha experiences that accompany subjective discoveries create confidence in and perceived ownership of ideas that may be exploited by conspiracy theories. We hypothesize that people experiencing more uncertainty and/or epistemic exclusion in society will especially feel the need to re-establish autonomous epistemic agency and discovery. While this explanation starts from shared human experiences and practices, it also illustrates the potential of those processes to lead to a narrowed world and ossified cognition.

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Illusory perception of visual patterns in pure noise is associated with COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Linking paranormal and conspiracy beliefs to illusory pattern perception through signal detection theory

Linking paranormal and conspiracy beliefs to illusory pattern perception through signal detection theory

Insight in the conspiracist’s mind

Insight in the Conspiracist’s Mind

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