Contingency symmetry bias

 The contingency symmetry bias is a human tendency to quickly assume bidirectional relationships exist between pairs of stimuli and expressions. 

Researchers have referred to the bias as a basis for early word learning. Children learn a symmetrical relationship between a word and a symbol like the word "apple" and a picture of an apple or the spoken sound of the word "apple." See for example Imai et al. (2021).

The contingency symmetry bias leads to false conclusions when people believe that the appearance of an event has a particular cause because in previous experience, a cause can lead to the observed event. In logic, it is the fallacy of affirming the consequent.

Example

Rain causes a driveway to be wet but a wet driveway does not always mean it is wet because it rained.

Reference

Imai, M., Murai, C., Michiko, M. Okada, H., & Tomonaga. (2021). The contingency symmetry bias (affirming the consequent fallacy) as a prerequisite for word learning: A comparative study of pre-linguistic human infants and chimpanzees, Cognition, 214, 104755, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104755.