TY - JOUR
AU - Hotaling, Jared M.
AB - The verbs cause, enable, and prevent express beliefs about the way the world works. We offer a theory of their meaning in terms of the structure of those beliefs expressed using qualitative properties of causal models, a graphical framework for representing causal structure. We propose that these verbs refer to a causal model relevant to a discourse and that “A causes B” expresses the belief that the causal model includes a link from A to B. “A enables/allows B” entails that the model includes a link from A to B, that A represents a category of events necessary for B, and that an alternative cause of B exists. “A prevents B” entails that the model includes a link from A to B and that A reduces the likelihood of B. This theory is able to account for the results of four experiments as well as a variety of existing data on human reasoning.
TI - A Causal Model Theory of the Meaning of Cause, Enable, and Prevent
JF - Cognitive Science - A Multidisciplinary Journal
DO - 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2008.01002.x
DA - 2009-01-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/a-causal-model-theory-of-the-meaning-of-cause-enable-and-prevent-9PUo1l20Yp
SP - 21
EP - 50
VL - 33
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -