Less is More: 91传媒 psychologist lauded for research on why simple explanations often win
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥91传媒 Assistant Professor Thalia H. Vrantsidis has received the Psychonomic Society鈥檚 2025 Best Article Award for her paper exploring why people often favor simpler explanations, even when more complex explanations may be more accurate.
The Psychonomic Society, an international organization dedicated to the scientific study of the mind, annually recognizes outstanding research published in its peer-reviewed journals. Recipients of the Best Article Award are honored with a certificate, a $1,000 prize and formal recognition at the society鈥檚 annual meeting, this year scheduled for Nov. 22 in Denver.
Published in the April edition of Memory & Cognition, Vrantsidis鈥 demonstrates that people tend to focus on causes which are present while overlooking absent causes鈥攆actors that may be relevant but are not immediately observable. This tendency can lead to an overvaluation of simpler explanations.
鈥淧eople often prefer simple explanations鈥攖his is often reasonable鈥攂ut there are many factors that push us toward oversimplified reasoning,鈥 Vrantsidis said. 鈥淭his can be problematic in real-world situations, from understanding economic changes to explaining human behavior. Just because one cause is apparent doesn鈥檛 mean there aren鈥檛 others at play.鈥
For example, when evaluating explanations for a patient鈥檚 symptoms, participants typically favored a one-cause explanation鈥撯揳 single disease caused the symptoms鈥撯揺ven when a more complex, multiple-cause explanation might be more accurate, such as when a combination of two different diseases caused the symptoms.
Vrantsidis said her findings highlight the importance of considering absent or unmentioned causes and explicitly considering whether multiple factors might be at play, which can help reduce reasoning errors caused by oversimplification.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been fascinated by the joy people get from understanding things well鈥攖he 鈥榓ha鈥 moments that come from a clear explanation,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y work explores what we value in explanations鈥攚hy simplicity can be helpful and when it can lead us astray.鈥
The study was coauthored with Tania Lombrozo, Vrantsidis鈥 former postdoctoral supervisor at Princeton University. Vrantsidis earned her Ph.D. and bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral research at Princeton before joining 91传媒鈥檚 cognitive science program in the Department of Psychology in 2023.
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