Paranormal believers are more prone to illusory agency detection than skeptics
@article{Elk2013ParanormalBA, title={Paranormal believers are more prone to illusory agency detection than skeptics}, author={Michiel van Elk}, journal={Consciousness and Cognition}, year={2013}, volume={22}, pages={1041-1046} }
63 Citations
Priming of supernatural agent concepts and agency detection
- Psychology
- 2016
In evolutionary approaches to religion it is argued that belief in supernatural agents is strongly related to a perceptual bias to over-detect the presence of agents in the environment. We report…
Fear the unseen: supernatural belief and agency detection in virtual reality
- PsychologyReligion, Brain & Behavior
- 2018
ABSTRACT Belief in supernatural agents is ubiquitous, as evidenced by its prevalence in religion, folklore, and cultural practices. It is theorized that, given recurrent ancestral risks of predation…
Perceptual Biases in Relation to Paranormal and Conspiracy Beliefs
- PsychologyPloS one
- 2015
The present study shows that individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are associated with perceptual and attentional biases, thereby extending the growing body of work in this field indicating effects of cultural learning on basic perceptual processes.
Perceptual biases in relation to paranormal and conspiracy beliefs
- Psychology
- 2015
Previous studies have shown that one’s prior beliefs have a strong effect on perceptual decision-making and attentional processing. The present study extends these findings by investigating how…
Perceptual Biases in Relation to Paranormal and Conspiracy Beliefs
- Psychology
- 2015
Previous studies have shown that one’s prior beliefs have a strong effect on perceptual decision-making and attentional processing. The present study extends these findings by investigating how…
Agency detection in predictive minds: a virtual reality study
- Psychology
- 2017
ABSTRACT Since its inception, explaining the cognitive foundations governing sensory experiences of supernatural agents has been a central topic in the cognitive science of religion. Following recent…
Individuals Who Believe in the Paranormal Expose Themselves to Biased Information and Develop More Causal Illusions than Nonbelievers in the Laboratory
- PsychologyPloS one
- 2015
This study found that paranormal beliefs (measured using a questionnaire) correlated with causal illusions (assessed by using contingency judgments), and this correlation was mediated entirely by the believers' tendency to expose themselves to more cause-present cases.
Superstition predicts perception of illusory control.
- PsychologyBritish journal of psychology
- 2018
The magnitude of this illusion was predicted by people's level of endorsement of common superstitious beliefs (measured using a novel Superstitious Beliefs Questionnaire), but was not associated with mood variables or their self-rated locus of control.
Mentalizing skills do not differentiate believers from non-believers, but credibility enhancing displays do
- PsychologyPloS one
- 2017
The ability to mentalize has been marked as an important cognitive mechanism enabling belief in supernatural agents and the importance of cultural learning for acquiring supernatural beliefs is highlighted and reconsiderations of the value of mentalizing are asked.
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