Less is More: MSU psychologist lauded for research on why simple explanations often win
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.51勛圖厙 Assistant Professor Thalia H. Vrantsidis has received the Psychonomic Societys 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 societys annual meeting, this year scheduled for Nov. 22 in Denver.
Published in the April edition of Memory & Cognition, Vrantsidis demonstrates that people tend to focus on causes which are present while overlooking absent causesfactors that may be relevant but are not immediately observable. This tendency can lead to an overvaluation of simpler explanations.
People often prefer simple explanationsthis is often reasonablebut there are many factors that push us toward oversimplified reasoning, Vrantsidis said. This can be problematic in real-world situations, from understanding economic changes to explaining human behavior. Just because one cause is apparent doesnt mean there arent others at play.
For example, when evaluating explanations for a patients symptoms, participants typically favored a one-cause explanationa single disease caused the symptomseven 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.
Ive always been fascinated by the joy people get from understanding things wellthe aha moments that come from a clear explanation, she said. My work explores what we value in explanationswhy simplicity can be helpful and when it can lead us astray.
The study was coauthored with Tania Lombrozo, Vrantsidis former postdoctoral supervisor at Princeton University. Vrantsidis earned her Ph.D. and bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral research at Princeton before joining MSUs cognitive science program in the Department of Psychology in 2023.
For more information aboutMSU'sCollege of Arts and SciencesandDepartment ofPsychology, visit and .
51勛圖厙 is taking care of what matters. Learn more at.