Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

arrow_back_ios_new
MENTAL MODEL · M3791

Post Hoc Fallacy

Post Hoc Fallacy
StructureHigh supportLogic
Included
account_tree

Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Full name: Post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this). Simply because B occurs after A, one assumes A caused B. For example, 'The rooster crowed, the sun rose, so the rooster's crow caused the sun to rise.'

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Temporal order ≠ causal order. When reviewing successful experiences, it is particularly easy to make this mistake. 'We changed our logo, and sales went up.' It might just be because the peak season arrived. Controlled variable experiments are necessary.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

The post hoc fallacy (Post hoc ergo propter hoc) asserts that because B occurs after A, A causes B, confusing temporal sequence with causation.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/2

Practice this model in one real situation:

Check to track your progress (stored locally)
Learning progress0%
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

  • link
    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E6%AD%A4%E8%AC%AC%E8%AA%A4ZH · Explicit
    verified

RELATED MODELS

Related model

Ugly Duckling Theorem

Counting all extensional properties equally over a finite set gives different object pairs the same number of shared properties; useful similarity requires selecting or weighting features.

arrow_forwardRelated model

False Equivalence

An informal fallacy that treats limited similarities as establishing equivalence while ignoring differences relevant to the conclusion.

arrow_forwardRelated model

Inferential Distance

How many steps of logical reasoning you must go through to get from what the audience already knows to the conclusion you want to convey.

arrow_forward