This week, the Times reports on a series of product testing that the Federal Trade Commission has performed on gasoline-enhancement products. These products promise gains in fuel efficiency:

THE federal Environmental Protection Agency maintains a full laboratory where it will gladly test a miraculous fuel-saving device for $30,000. But so far, the biggest customer of the lab has been the Federal Trade Commission, which uses it to debunk false advertising claims.

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Why do people who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on a well-engineered car believe that the $100 Fuel Genie, the $198 Platinum Gas Saver or the $70 TornadoFuelSaver might reap huge benefits?

DUH! Aren't there a hundred more difficult problems faced by consumers than these obvious frauds? Okay. Some psychobabble:

Dr. Carl Haugtvedt, a social psychologist who is an associate professor of marketing logistics at Ohio State University, said that the kind of faith that draws consumers to gadgets like these was actually important to human mental health. Part of the attraction stems from hopefulness and a willingness to trust that something can improve a painful situation. Another factor is self-delusion, which protects the ego by letting a person overlook bad decisions.

"You could admit to yourself that you were wrong, you wasted this money, you burned this money, say 'I'm an idiot,' " Dr. Haugtvedt said. "That's very tough on the self."

People who are hopeful enough to try out a fuel-economy enhancer will look for any positive sign they can find to convince themselves that they made a good decision. They may put the device in their car and, at the same time, get a tune-up — something suggested in the installation instructions with many devices. Or, because the owners are paying more attention to their cars, they may realize that their tires are underinflated and add some air. Then, each time they add fuel at the gas pump, they attribute any mileage gain to the device.

Maybe the FTC's resources would be better allocated to making people more skeptical generally of advertising, rather than spending all this money and effort debunking specific products that obviously are bogus.