Causal Reasoning

Question 1

Hume’s causal principles (3)

Answer 1

Temporal priority
Spatial/Temporal contiguity
Covariation

Question 2

Temporal priority/Spatial contiguity:
- Jack in the box
- Sticker lever box

Answer 2

• 3-5 years
• 12 months

Question 3

Screening off
Bayes nets

Answer 3

Third factor causes covariation between two variables
Third factor removes cause of covariation

Causal graphical models

Question 4

Blicket detector
- Blue cube, yellow cylinder; One-cause vs Two-cause condition; Backwards blocking
- Disjunctive vs Conjunctive training

Answer 4

• 3 and 4 years
  Past knowledge blocks off causal effect
• 4 years to adult

Question 5

Designing interventions:
- Switch and two gears (S, A, B)
(remove gear from position B or A)

Answer 5

• 3-5 years

Question 6

Scientific reasoning:
- Car computer game
- Small and large mouse

Answer 6

• 9-11 years
• 1st and 2nd graders

Question 7

Confounded evidence:
- Box with two levers

Answer 7

• 4-6 years

Question 8

Gravity bias:
- Ball drops through transparent tubes

Answer 8

• Display bias until 3.5 years
• Think the ball will drop into cup directly below

Question 9

Causality across domains:
- Story w/ within-domain cause or across-domain cause

Answer 9

• 3-5 years
  (Only 4-5 years increase belief in across-domain cause)

Question 10

Magnets:
- Magnetic or reverse-magnetic
- Chicken and egg problem

• Magnets, metals, nonmetals

Answer 10

• 4 and 5 years
• How do you figure out what categories are before learning about the concepts?
• 4-6 years

Question 11

Causal attribution:
- Person vs Situation condition
- Cultural diffs?

Answer 11

• 4-6 years
• Chinese adults, Japanese, and rural Ecuadorian children use more situational explanations