Apophenia

Apophenia (/æpoʊˈfiːniə/) is the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. The term (German: Apophänie from the Greek verb ἀποφαίνειν (apophaínein)) was coined by psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in his 1958 publication on the beginning stages of schizophrenia. He defined it as “unmotivated seeing of connections [accompanied by] a specific feeling of abnormal meaningfulness”. He described the early stages of delusional thought as self-referential over-interpretations of actual sensory perceptions, as opposed to hallucinations. Apophenia has also come to describe a human propensity to unreasonably seek patterns in random information.

The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. It has been employed to detect underlying thought disorder, especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly.[4] The test is named after its creator, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach. The Rorschach can be thought of as a psychometric examination of pareidolia, the active pattern of perceiving objects, shapes, or scenery as meaningful things to the observer's experience, the most common being faces or other pattern of forms that are not present at the time of the observation. In the 1960s, the Rorschach was the most widely used projective test.

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„Marsgesicht“, aufgenommen vom Orbiter von Viking 1, 1976. Die schwarzen Punkte, wie zum Beispiel das „Nasenloch“, sind Bildübertragungsfehler.

Relief der Cydonia-Region; oben das „Marsgesicht“, darunter die „Pyramiden“ .

Buetow, S.. (2019). Apophenia, unconscious bias and reflexivity in nursing qualitative research. International Journal of Nursing Studies

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.09.013
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Blain, S. D., Longenecker, J. M., Grazioplene, R. G., Klimes-Dougan, B., & DeYoung, C. G.. (2020). Apophenia as the disposition to false positives: A unifying framework for openness and psychoticism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1037/abn0000504
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Romain, C.. (2018). Apophenia. Temes de Disseny

Plain numerical DOI: 10.46467/tdd34.2018.74-79
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Ellerby, Z. W., & Tunney, R. J.. (2017). The effects of heuristics and apophenia on probabilistic choice. Advances in Cognitive Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.5709/acp-0228-9
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Bainbridge, T. F., Quinlan, J. A., Mar, R. A., & Smillie, L. D.. (2019). Openness/Intellect and Susceptibility to Pseudo-Profound Bullshit: A Replication and Extension. European Journal of Personality

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1002/per.2176
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DeYoung, C. G., Grazioplene, R. G., & Peterson, J. B.. (2012). From madness to genius: The Openness/Intellect trait domain as a paradoxical simplex. Journal of Research in Personality

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2011.12.003
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Fyfe, S., Williams, C., Mason, O. J., & Pickup, G. J.. (2008). Apophenia, theory of mind and schizotypy: Perceiving meaning and intentionality in randomness. Cortex

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2007.07.009
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Supplemental Material for Apophenia as the Disposition to False Positives: A Unifying Framework for Openness and Psychoticism. (2020). Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1037/abn0000504.supp
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Goldfarb, B., & King, A. A.. (2016). Scientific apophenia in strategic management research: Significance tests & mistaken inference. Strategic Management Journal

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1002/smj.2459
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Hanson, N. A., Lavallee, M. B., & Thiele, R. H.. (2021). Apophenia and anesthesia: how we sometimes change our practice prematurely. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s12630-021-02005-2
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Bokhorov, K. Y.. (2021). Algorithmic Apophenia and Aestheticization of Data. Art & Culture Studies

Plain numerical DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2021-3-242-255
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Paul, S. T., Monda, S., Olausson, S. M., & Reed-Daley, B.. (2014). Effects of apophenia on multiple-choice exam performance. SAGE Open

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/2158244014556628
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Jones, P. M., & Martin, J.. (2021). Increasing the reproducibility of research will reduce the problem of apophenia (and more). Canadian Journal of Anesthesia

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s12630-021-02006-1
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Guliciuc, V.. (2018). Pareidolic and uncomplex technological singularity. Information (Switzerland)

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3390/info9120309
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Papasavva, A., Blackburn, J., Stringhini, G., Zannettou, S., & de Cristofaro, E.. (2020). Is it a qoincidence?: A first step towards understanding and characterizing the qanon movement on Voat.co. ArXiv
Meschiari, M.. (2009). Roots of the savage mind: apophenia and imagination as cognitive process. Quaderni Di Semantica: Rivista Internazionale Di Semantica Teorica e Applicata
Di Stefano, G., & Gutierrez, C.. (2019). Under a magnifying glass: On the use of experiments in strategy research. Strategic Organization

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/1476127018803840
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Merckelbach, H., Otgaar, H., & Jelicic, M.. (2020). Psychopathological significance of fantasy proneness as measured by the Creative Experiences Questionnaire: A meta-analysis. Tijdschrift Voor Psychiatrie

Klein, L. W.. (2018). The Apophenia of Interventional Cardiology. Journal of Invasive Cardiology

Blain, S., Grazioplene, R., Julia, L., Ma, Y., Udochi, A., Klimes-Dougan, B., & DeYoung, C.. (2020). PERSONALITY AND NEUROCOGNITIVE CORRELATES OF PSYCHOTIC-LIKE EXPERIENCES…Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) 2020 Congress. Schizophrenia Bulletin
Goldfarb, B. D., & King, A. A.. (2013). Scientific Apophenia in Strategic Management Research. SSRN Electronic Journal

Plain numerical DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2337682
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Tagami, U., & Imaizumi, S.. (2020). No Correlation Between Perception of Meaning and Positive Schizotypy in a Female College Sample. Frontiers in Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01323
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Hannah, M. N.. (2021). A Conspiracy of Data: QAnon, Social Media, and Information Visualization. Social Media and Society

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/20563051211036064
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Sánchez, D. H.. (2021). Present-tense antropology. Tom mccarthy and the pattern recognition. Revista de Filosofia (Venezuela)

Plain numerical DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5527342
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Kazemzadeh, M.. (2012). Apophenoetics: Virtual pattern recognition, the origins of creativity and augmenting the evolution of self. Technoetic Arts

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1386/tear.10.1.115_1
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Wickham, H., Cook, D., Hofmann, H., & Buja, A.. (2010). Graphical inference for infovis. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2010.161
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Shadrova, A.. (2021). Topic models do not model topics: epistemological remarks and steps towards best practices. Journal of Data Mining & Digital Humanities

Plain numerical DOI: 10.46298/jdmdh.7595
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Sultan, A. S., & Jessri, M.. (2019). Pathology is Always Around Us: Apophenia in Pathology, a Remarkable Unreported Phenomenon. Diseases

Plain numerical DOI: 10.3390/diseases7040054
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Rominger, C., Fink, A., Weiss, E. M., Schulter, G., Perchtold, C. M., & Papousek, I.. (2019). The propensity to perceive meaningful coincidences is associated with increased posterior alpha power during retention of information in a modified Sternberg paradigm. Consciousness and Cognition

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102832
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Sweitzer, N. K.. (2018). Apophenia and the Crafting of a Circulation: Heart Failure Issue. Circulation. Heart Failure

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.118.005027
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Dietrich, E., & Fields, C.. (2015). Science Generates Limit Paradoxes. Axiomathes

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1007/s10516-015-9267-x
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Rominger, C., Schulter, G., Fink, A., Weiss, E. M., & Papousek, I.. (2018). Meaning in meaninglessness: The propensity to perceive meaningful patterns in coincident events and randomly arranged stimuli is linked to enhanced attention in early sensory processing. Psychiatry Research

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.043
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Hobbs, D.. (2019). Faces in the clouds: criminology, epochalism, apophenia and transnational organized crime. In A Research Agenda for Global Crime

Plain numerical DOI: 10.4337/9781786438676.00008
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Franceschi, P.. (2010). A Logical Defence of Maher’s Model of Polythematic Delusions. Journal of Philosophical Research
Boyer, M. M., & Owadally, I.. (2015). Underwriting apophenia and cryptids: Are cycles statistical figments of our imagination?. Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1057/gpp.2014.12
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Ellerby, Z., & Tunney, R. J.. (2019). Probability matching on a simple simulated foraging task: The effects of reward persistence and accumulation on choice behavior. Advances in Cognitive Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.5709/acp-0261-2
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Choupina, A.. (2020). Des yeux qui ne voient pas. Sophia Journal

Plain numerical DOI: 10.24840/2183-8976_2019-0005_0001_08
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Bell, V., Reddy, V., Halligan, P., Kirov, G., & Ellis, H.. (2007). Relative suppression of magical thinking: A transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Cortex

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70249-1
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Casane, D., Fumey, J., & Laurenti, P.. (2015). ENCODE apophenia or a panglossian analysis of the human genome. Medecine/Sciences

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1051/medsci/20153106023
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Wieland, R., Mirschel, W., Zbell, B., Groth, K., Pechenick, A., & Fukuda, K.. (2010). A new library to combine artificial neural networks and support vector machines with statistics and a database engine for application in environmental modeling. Environmental Modelling and Software

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.11.006
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Castillo Ulloa, I.. (2016). From Apophenia to Epiphany: Making Planning Theory-Research-Practice Co-constitutive. PlaNext – Next Generation Planning

Plain numerical DOI: 10.24306/plnxt.2016.03.002
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Berkowitz, R.. (2020). A Game Designer’s Analysis of QAnon. Medium
Mishlove, J., & Engen, B. C.. (2007). Archetypal synchronistic resonance: A new theory of paranormal experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1177/0022167806293006
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Simmonds-Moore, C.. (2014). Exploring the perceptual biases associated with believing and disbelieving in paranormal phenomena. Consciousness and Cognition

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.06.004
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DUKOV, Y. V., & EVALLYO, V. D.. (2021). ARTS AND MACHINE CIVILIZATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE. THE ART AND SCIENCE OF TELEVISION

Plain numerical DOI: 10.30628/1994-9529-2021-17.2-11-32
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Palandri, A.. (2014). Apophenia? Data Under-Mining the Volatility Leverage-Effect.. SSRN Electronic Journal

Plain numerical DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2514364
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Sultan, A. S., & Jessri, M.. (2021). Pathology Is Always Around Us: Apophenia in Pathology, a Remarkable Unreported Phenomenon. In Advances in Medical Biochemistry, Genomics, Physiology, and Pathology

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1201/9781003180449-26
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Ferencz, Á., Bolló, H., Hidegkuti, I., & Szemán-Nagy, A.. (2014). Absorbed in creation: Psychotic and dissociative experiences in the creative process?. Magyar Pszichologiai Szemle

Plain numerical DOI: 10.1556/MPSzle.69.2014.2.6
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