Superstitious Behavior

Superstitious behavior, in behavioral psychology, is behavior that an organism repeats because it has been accidentally and coincidentally reinforced, even though the behavior has no actual causal effect on the reinforcement that follows it. The phenomenon was first demonstrated experimentally by B.F. Skinner, who observed pigeons developing repetitive, idiosyncratic movements after food was delivered on a fixed schedule regardless of what the pigeon was doing, because whatever action happened to precede a delivery of food was strengthened by the coincidental reward. The concept has since been used to explain some ritualistic human behaviors that persist despite lacking any genuine influence on their intended outcome.