Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T10:31:56.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 7 - Competing Causes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2021

David A. Lagnado
David A. Lagnado
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

Chapter 7 looks at subtleties that arise when people assess competing causes of the same evidence. I identify a novel fallacy in evidential reasoning – the zero-sum fallacy – and show how both legal experts and lay people are prone to this error. But on the positive side I also show that lay people are pretty good at qualitative causal reasoning, despite using simplifying strategies.

Keywords

Multiple causeszero-sum fallacyqualitative reasoningpredictiondiagnosisexplaining away
Type
Chapter
Information
Explaining the Evidence
How the Mind Investigates the World
 , pp. 156 - 171
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Competing Causes
  • David A. Lagnado, University College London
  • Book: Explaining the Evidence
  • Online publication: 20 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511794520.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Competing Causes
  • David A. Lagnado, University College London
  • Book: Explaining the Evidence
  • Online publication: 20 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511794520.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Competing Causes
  • David A. Lagnado, University College London
  • Book: Explaining the Evidence
  • Online publication: 20 October 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511794520.008
Available formats
×