Human Growth and Development / Unit 1 HGD 0053 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Correlation and Causation
The idea
A correlation shows that two variables move together, but it cannot show that one causes the other. A third variable can drive both: people who eat breakfast cereal may differ in other habits that explain their heart health. People also see correlations that are not there. Belief that a full moon changes behaviour is an illusory correlation: a review of nearly forty studies found no relationship, yet confirmation bias keeps noticing the cases that fit.
In practice
Violent video games and aggression rising together in the same children, with some third factor possibly behind both.
Where people slip
The misconception is that a correlation shows cause. Only an experiment, which manipulates one variable and holds the rest constant through random assignment, can show cause and effect. Illusory correlations do real harm too: they help sustain prejudice about groups of people.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- 0054Replication and the Mozart Effect
- 0058The Correlation Coefficient
- 0059Experiments
- 0759The Marshmallow Test
- 0800Media Violence and Co-Viewing
- 0954The Pygmalion Effect
- 0957Mindset Theory
- 0970The Reading Wars
- 1082Family Structure and Child Outcomes
- 1252Why Teens Take Risks
- 1393Social Media and Teen Mental Health
- 1398Stereotype Threat
- 1804Brain Health: Associations
- 1817Hormone Therapy: How the Evidence Changed
- 1823The Seattle Longitudinal Study
- 1826Brain Games
- 1961The Midlife Crisis
- 1968What Predicts Marital Satisfaction
- 1991Is There a Midlife Dip?
- 2133Episodic and Autobiographical Memory
- 2153Compression of Morbidity
- 2279Is Retirement Good for You?
- 2411Terror Management Theory
- 2437The Five-Stage Model and Its Evidence
- 2580Perception: Built In or Built Up?
- 2590Does Intelligence Decline With Age?
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Human Growth and Development