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Causal reasoning is the ability to identify causality: the relationship between a cause and its effect. The study of causality extends from ancient philosophy to contemporary neuropsychology; assumptions about the nature of causality may be shown to be functions of a previous event preceding a later one. The first known protoscientific study of cause and effect occurred in Aristotle's ''Physics''.〔http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality〕 == Understanding cause and effect == Causal relationships may be understood as a transfer of force.〔Ahn, W.-K., & Kalish, C. W. (2000). "The role of mechanism in causal reasoning." In F. C. Keil & R. A. Wilson (Eds.) ''Explanation and Cognition''. (pp. 199-225). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.〕 If A causes B, then A must transmit a force (or causal power) to B which results in the effect. Causal relationships suggest change over time; cause and effect are temporally related, and the cause precedes the outcome.〔 Causality may also be inferred in the absence of a force, a less-typical definition.〔Wolff, P., Barbey, A. K., & Hausknecht, M. (2010). "For want of a nail: How absences cause events." ''Journal of Experimental Psychology'': General, 139, 191-221.〕 A cause can be removal (or stopping), like removing a support from a structure and causing a collapse or a lack of precipitation causing wilted plants. Humans can reason about many topics (for example, in social and counterfactual situations and mathematics) with the aid of causal understanding.〔 Understanding depends on the ability to comprehend cause and effect. People must be able to reason about the causes of others’ behavior (to understand their intentions and act appropriately) and understand the likely effects of their own actions. Counterfactual arguments are presented in many situations; humans are predisposed to think about “what might have been”, even when that argument has no bearing on the current situation. Although causality is related to mechanism,〔Keil, F. C. (2006). "Explanation and understanding." ''Annual Review in Psychology'', 57, 227-254.〕 an understanding of causality does not necessarily imply an understanding of mechanism. Cause-and-effect relationships define categories of objects.〔Rehder, B. (2003). "Categorization as causal reasoning." ''Cognitive Science'', 27, 709-748.〕 Wings are a feature of the category "birds"; this feature is causally interconnected with another feature of the category, the ability to fly.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「causal reasoning」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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