@article{ref1,
title="Is everyday causation deterministic or probabilistic?",
journal="Acta psychologica",
year="2011",
author="Johnson-Laird, Philip N. and Frosch, Caren A.",
volume="137",
number="3",
pages="280-291",
abstract="One view of causation is deterministic: A causes B means that whenever A occurs, B occurs. An alternative view is that causation is probabilistic: the assertion means that given A, the probability of B is greater than some criterion, such as the probability of B given not-A. Evidence about the induction of causal relations cannot readily decide between these alternative accounts, and so we examined how people refute causal assertions. In four experiments most participants judged that a single counterexample of A and not-B refuted assertions of the form, A causes B. And, as a deterministic theory based on mental models predicted, participants were more likely to request multiple refutations for assertions of the form, A enables B. Similarly, refutations of the form not-A and B were more frequent for enabling than causal assertions. Causation in daily life seems to be a deterministic concept.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0001-6918",
doi="10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.01.015",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.01.015"
}