A researcher has studied a group of patients who have a rare terminal type of cancer and has found that they all were regular cranberry juice drinkers.He concluded that drinking cranberry juice led to the development of the rare cancer.In this case,the researcher has most likely made an error in judgment due to
A)bidirectional influences.
B)the availability heuristic.
C)cohort effects.
D)the post hoc fallacy.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The researcher has committed the post hoc fallacy, meaning he has assumed that because a behavior (drinking cranberry juice) occurred before an outcome (developing rare cancer), the behavior must have caused the outcome. This assumption is invalid because other factors could be responsible for the cancer, and correlation does not equal causation.

A Researcher Has Studied a Group of Patients Who Have