Final answer:
The cause-effect fallacy is a logical error where a person assumes a causal relationship exists between two events just because one follows the other, often ignoring other factors. Confirmation bias can reinforce this fallacy when people selectively recall information that supports their existing beliefs. An example would be incorrectly believing that swimsuits cause sunburns without considering sun exposure.
Step-by-step explanation:
What is Cause-Effect Fallacy? A cause-effect fallacy is a type of logical error where someone assumes that because one event follows another, the first event must be the cause of the second. This flawed reasoning often overlooks the possibility that the two events could be unrelated, or that they could both be caused by a third factor. An example of this fallacy would be observing that ice cream sales and the rate of burglaries both increase during the summer and concluding that one causes the other, rather than considering that the warm weather could be a common cause for both. Confirmation bias exacerbates the cause-effect fallacy, as people are more likely to remember instances that support their existing beliefs. For example, a sports fan might believe a particular shirt is lucky because they recall times when their team won while they wore it, ignoring occasions when the team lost. Another example is believing that swimsuits cause sunburns simply because there is a correlation between people wearing swimsuits and getting sunburns, without acknowledging that sun exposure is the actual cause of the sunburns.