ERIC Number: EJ754563
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Feb
Pages: 30
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0096-3445
EISSN: N/A
Representing Causation
Wolff, Phillip
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, v136 n1 p82-111 Feb 2007
The dynamics model, which is based on L. Talmy's (1988) theory of force dynamics, characterizes causation as a pattern of forces and a position vector. In contrast to counterfactual and probabilistic models, the dynamics model naturally distinguishes between different cause-related concepts and explains the induction of causal relationships from single observations. Support for the model is provided in experiments in which participants categorized 3-D animations of realistically rendered objects with trajectories that were wholly determined by the force vectors entered into a physics simulator. Experiments 1-3 showed that causal judgments are based on several forces, not just one. Experiment 4 demonstrated that people compute the resultant of forces using a qualitative decision rule. Experiments 5 and 6 showed that a dynamics approach extends to the representation of social causation. Implications for the relationship between causation and time are discussed.
Descriptors: Cognitive Mapping, Physics, Models, Simulation, Scientific Methodology, Science Experiments, Program Descriptions, Methods Research, Animation, Multidimensional Scaling, Schematic Studies
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A