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Related Concept Videos

Criteria for Causality: Bradford Hill Criteria - II01:28

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The Bradford Hill criteria serve as guidelines for establishing causative links in epidemiological research. Beyond Strength, Consistency, Specificity, and Temporality, key criteria also include Biological Gradient, Plausibility, Coherence, Experiment, and Analogy. These principles assist scientists in assessing the likelihood of causation in complex biological contexts. Below is a summary of these concepts:
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While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
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Causality or causation is a fundamental concept in epidemiology, vital for understanding the relationships between various factors and health outcomes. Despite its importance, there's no single, universally accepted definition of causality within the discipline. Drawing from a systematic review, causality in epidemiology encompasses several definitions, including production, necessary and sufficient, sufficient-component, counterfactual, and probabilistic models. Each has its strengths and...
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Schizophrenia, a severe psychiatric disorder, arises from a complex interplay of biological factors, including genetic predisposition, structural brain abnormalities, neurotransmitter dysregulation, and developmental irregularities. These factors collectively contribute to the onset and progression of the disorder, which typically manifests in late adolescence or early adulthood.
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When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
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Plural Causes.

Can Konuk1, Tadeg Quillien2, Salvador Mascarenhas3

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA (work carried out at Institut Jean-Nicod, Ecole Normale SupĂ©rieure, Paris, France).

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces plural causes into causal selection, demonstrating their psychological reality. It extends existing models to predict plural cause effects and reveals unique logical properties in causal reasoning.

Keywords:
causal selectioncounterfactual theories of causationplurals

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Causal selection explains why we identify specific causes for events.
  • Existing theories focus on individual variables, neglecting combinations of factors.
  • People often select single causes (e.g., lightning for fire) over indispensable conditions (e.g., oxygen).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically investigate the role of plural causes in causal selection.
  • To establish the psychological reality and significance of plural causes.
  • To extend current causal selection models to accommodate plural causes.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted two behavioral experiments to test the psychological reality of plural causes.
  • Utilized state-of-the-art causal selection models based on counterfactual dependence.
  • Analyzed logical properties of plural causes in natural language interpretation.

Main Results:

  • Confirmed the psychological reality and non-triviality of plural causes.
  • Demonstrated that extended causal models can predict plural cause effects.
  • Identified unique logical properties of plural causes in causal reasoning.

Conclusions:

  • Plural causes are a significant factor in human causal selection.
  • Current causal selection models can be adapted to include plural causes.
  • The study opens new avenues for understanding causal reasoning and language.