Current teaching and learning methods reveal marked differences between how students approach learning and how instructors approach teaching. Little attention has been paid to understanding these differences and their implications for designing successful learning environments. The purpose of the paper is to introduce a framework for understanding…

There has been considerable debate regarding the causal precedence of intelligence and academic achievement. Some researchers view intelligence and achievement as identical constructs. Others believe that the relationship between intelligence and achievement is reciprocal. Still others assert that intelligence is causally related to achievement.…

People's reactions to coincidences are often cited as an illustration of the irrationality of human reasoning about chance. We argue that coincidences may be better understood in terms of rational statistical inference, based on their functional role in processes of causal discovery and theory revision. We present a formal definition of…

This article highlights the problem of omitted variable bias in research on the causal effect of financial aid on college-going. I first describe the problem of self-selection and the resulting bias from omitted variables. I then assess and explore the strengths and weaknesses of random assignment, multivariate regression, proxy variables, fixed…

The purpose of this paper is to articulate the common confusion of correlation for causation. Various articles that have addressed this issue are reviewed, and possible reasons for the misinterpretation of correlation as causation are presented. The differences between correlational and experimental research designs are reviewed, and the…

Provides an introduction to the structural equation modeling concepts developed by J. Pearl, discussing the concept he calls "d-separation." Explains how d-separation connects to control variables, partial correlations, causal structuring, and even a potential mistake in regression. (SLD)

Studied a way of constraining feature centrality, the causal status of features in a category through 6 experiments involving 204 undergraduate students. Results show that the causal status effect is deeply rooted in many aspects of the categorization process. Causal knowledge is shown to affect categorization by determining feature centrality.…

Explores the relative strengths and weaknesses of program theory as a tool for inferring causality and outlines a five-stage approach that makes increased use of inductively built program theories as it takes more deliberate account of the varying levels of certainty that are required for evaluative conclusions. (Author/SLD)

A necessary and sufficient condition is found for a linear recursive sequence to be convergent, no matter what initial values are given. Its limit is also obtained when the sequence is convergent. Methods from various areas of mathematics are used to obtain the results.

This article presents a theory of how individuals reason from inconsistency to consistency. The theory is based on 3 main principles. First, individuals try to construct a single mental model of a possibility that satisfies a current set of propositions, and if the task is impossible, they infer that the set is inconsistent. Second, when an…

This article (which is mainly expository) sets up graphical models for causation, having a bit less than the usual complement of hypothetical counterfactuals. Assuming the invariance of error distributions may be essential for causal inference, but the errors themselves need not be invariant. Graphs can be interpreted using conditional…

This paper comments on the articles by Cheng and by Novick and Cheng. It has been claimed that the power PC theory reconciles regularity and power theories of causal judgment by showing how contingency information is used for inferences about unobservable causal powers. Under the causal powers theory causal relations are understood as generative…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school-based organizational structures that support teachers' development of Personalized Education Plans (PEPs) and their quality as written for third through fifth grade students in each of two Title I schools. A causal comparative design was implemented. Teachers' responses…

This study provides empirical support for the Attributions for Scholastic Outcomes Scale-Black (ASO-B) as an instrument for measuring two latent traits that influence causal reasoning about the Black-White achievement gap: culture-blaming and structure-blaming. Within this conceptual framework, culture-blaming refers to the belief that Black…

Developed primarily in clandestine laboratories, methamphetamine is a highly addictive synthetic drug whose physical effects include hyperactivity, euphoria, tremors, and a sense of increased energy. While the accuracy of recent accounts suggesting a methamphetamine epidemic in the United States is unclear, these reports have nevertheless…