When Is a Cause the “Same”?
Psychological SciencePublished 19 October 2007
Mimi Liljeholm, Patricia W. Cheng
Citations40
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.50
SNIP2.29
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Abstract
Two competing psychological approaches to causal learning make different predictions regarding what aspect of perceived causality is generalized across contexts. Two experiments tested these predictions. In one experiment, the task required a judgment regarding the existence of a simple causal relation; in the other, the task required a judgment regarding the existence of an interaction between a candidate cause and unobserved background causes. The task materials did not mention assessments of causal strength. Results indicate that causal power (Cartwright, 1989; Cheng, 1997) is the mental construct that people carry from one context to another.
Keywords
Psychology
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