Examining the relationships between delusion-like beliefs in the general population and cognitive biases associated with these tasks, NOMIS researcher Ryan McKay and colleagues suggest that some seemingly well-established relationships between cognitive biases and delusion-like beliefs might be artifacts of careless responding. Their findings were published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
Many experts agree that delusions in clinical populations and delusion-like beliefs in the general population are, in part, caused by cognitive biases. Much of the evidence comes from two influential tasks: the Beads Task and the Bias Against Disconfirmatory Evidence Task. However, research using these tasks has been hampered by conceptual and empirical inconsistencies.
In an online study, the researchers examined the relationships between delusion-like beliefs in the general population and cognitive biases associated with these tasks. The study had four key strengths: a new animated Beads Task designed to reduce task miscomprehension, several data-quality checks to identify careless responders, a large sample (n = 1,002), and a preregistered analysis plan.
When analyzing the full sample, the results replicated classic relationships between cognitive biases and delusion-like beliefs. However, when the researchers removed 82 careless participants from the analyses (8.2% of the sample), they found that many of these relationships were severely diminished and, in some cases, eliminated outright. These results suggest that some (but not all) seemingly well-established relationships between cognitive biases and delusion-like beliefs might be artifacts of careless responding. The findings suggest a reconsideration of the role of cognitive biases in delusions and related phenomena, and highlight the importance of mitigating and controlling for inattention in studies on this topic.
Read the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science publication: Delusion-Like Beliefs and Data Quality: Are Classic Cognitive Biases Artifacts of Carelessness?
