Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Investigating Causal Brain-behavioral Relationships and their Time Course
Published on: July 18, 2014
Implications for school achievement and causality: A commentary
1Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Canada.
Abstract:
This article is a commentary on a study published in this issue by Levine et al. (2019). They reported that the relation they observed between sex-related discrepancies in success on standardized tests and health outcomes is significant only in males. We suggest that this finding has important implications for educators and future research and we examine possibilities related to sex differences in school achievement. We also offer arguments suggesting that it is premature to propose a causal explanation for the results presented by Levine and colleagues, given that crucial conditions to establish such causality are not met in their studies. We conclude with a proposal for a study that could potentially determine whether the temporal ordering required to establish causality arises in the relation between health outcomes and the sex-related discrepancies.
Related Concept Videos
Causality in Epidemiology
Criteria for Causality: Bradford Hill Criteria - II
Criteria for Causality: Bradford Hill Criteria - I
Secondary Motives: Power Motivation and Achievement Motivation
Power motivation is characterized by the desire to influence, control, or have an impact on others. It is shaped by an individual's experiences, social environment, and cultural context. People with high power motivation are...
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Ethics in Research

