This is a common bias or fallacy. It refers to what directly causes something
versus what increases/decreases as another thing increases/decreases
(same way)
Just because B follows A in time, B is not necessarily the result of
A.
Sometimes, these can be tricky to pinpoint!!
1) Summer: Ice Cream sales rise, but drowning incidents also rise:
Ice cream doesn’t cause drowning.
2) Claim: "Schools develop Critical Thinking Skills because higher
age students can think better." (Correlation)
Reality: Prefrontal Cortex development can happen even in the absence of
the existence of school. (Not a causation)
3) "Social
media causes depression more than school." While there is a
correlation, it is not necessarily the biggest causator. This is because
in summer, logically, you should get more social media time, but
depression rates are nearly halved (Peter Gray)! Rather, social
media may lead to people having unrealistic expectations or attention
spans, which I would say was inevitable, given that schools don't
entertain students, other companies developed and led to this: the
"innovator" usually wins.
Rather, students with little coping ability for the education system and are depressed as a
result for it, may spend more time on social media, coping by doing
what they want!!