Search Papers | Poster Sessions | All Posters
Poster B47 in Poster Session B - Thursday, August 8, 2024, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, Johnson Ice Rink
Contextual dependence of the “Knobe effect”: reversals under counterfactual contrasts
Dae Houlihan1 (), Greyson Xiao1, Jonathan Phillips1; 1Dartmouth College
Lay concepts of intentionality and causality are sensitive to normative factors. Prior work on the “Knobe effect” has found that norm-violating actions are attributed greater causal importance than norm-conforming actions. Such norm-depended asymmetries in people's intuitive theory of psychology are highly replicable and represents striking deviations from prescriptively rational inference. To better understand the bases of norm-dependent asymmetries in intuitive psychology, we manipulate and measure counterfactual cognition in Knobe-like vignettes. In several preregistered studies, we replicate the Knobe effect under certain conditions. However, we also find strong reversals of the expected effect direction under other conditions. These data suggest that the classic Knobe effect depends critically on counterfactual cognition.
Keywords: Knobe effect Norm dependence Counterfactual Intuitive psychology