Edited book
The Oxford handbook of comparative cognition
Oxford Library of Psychology, Oxford University Press, Revised edition
2012
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195392661.013.0011
Abstract
Humans are causal agents par excellence. But what are the psychological processes that have evolved to produce human causal cognition? And which aspects of causal cognition are uniquely human and which are shared with other species? This chapter describes how a computational model of causal inference, causal model theory, can usefully frame these questions and allow the design of experiments that can illuminate the underlying psychological competencies. The model specifies procedures that allow organisms to go beyond the information given to distinguish causal from noncausal covariations. By using this model we assume that organisms such as rats and people have evolved to approximate rational causal inference. The chapter discusses experimental investigations of rat behavior under conditions designed to test the predictions of causal model theory.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Oxford handbook of comparative cognition
- Contributors
- Thomas R Zentall (Editor)Edward A Wasserman (Editor) - University of Iowa, Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Resource Type
- Edited book
- Edition
- Revised edition
- Series
- Oxford Library of Psychology
- DOI
- 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195392661.013.0011
- ISBN
- 0195392663; 9780195392661
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press; Oxford; New York
- Number of pages
- xxvi, 914 pages
- Alternative title
- Comparative cognition
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2012
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9983997598202771
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