# what is the name of this phenomenon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910 "2007-09-20T20:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/1 "2007-09-20T20:21:18Z")
doo do de do do. (Sorry, That always happens when I write or say that word.) What I’m talking about is this… Say I buy a Subaru Outback. All of a sudden I’m seeing Subaru Outbacks all over the road. I know there is a description of this, but you try googling it and see what you get. Thanks! Lebeef Yanceylebeef ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/2 "2007-09-20T20:45:14Z")
Simple. We’re all waiting for your lead. Subaru Outbacks, you say… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/3 "2007-09-20T20:50:05Z")
Some sort of [Cognitive Bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias), I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/4 "2007-09-20T20:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Some sort of [Cognitive Bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias), I’d say. [/QUOTE] Could it maybe also be a distant relative of Confirmation Bias. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/5 "2007-09-20T20:56:22Z")
That’s what I was thinking - it’s not the most common form of confirmation bias (the one that makes people think they can switch off street lights by walking under them, or that they can compel people to phone them from a long distance, just by thinking about the subject), but it’s definitely something similar - seeing greater significance in what was there all along - that’s confirmation bias alright. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/6 "2007-09-20T21:18:09Z")
Diegogarcity? > **[obsessionwithfood.com](http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/)** > > This domain may be for sale! ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/7 "2007-09-24T22:19:30Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Some sort of [Cognitive Bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias), I’d say. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I didn’t mean to disappear after asking the question, but at the last minute, we took off to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a Brewers fest! Yay beer! I think mangetout got it. I think that was the phenomenon we learned in psych 101. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/8 "2007-09-25T00:55:10Z")
I thought it was called White Van Syndrome, but I’m having trouble digging up a cite. Maybe somebody else has heard that expression and can dig one up. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/9 "2007-09-25T06:00:09Z")
I’ve heard it described as observation bias. This is a link to a PowerPoint presentation. Go through what it says about Observation Bias and see if this isn’t close to what you’re describing. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-this-phenomenon/419910/10 "2007-09-25T07:47:30Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] I thought it was called White Van Syndrome, but I’m having trouble digging up a cite. Maybe somebody else has heard that expression and can dig one up. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard that expression, but it’s just a colloquial term for confirmation bias, AFAIK.