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Chapter 7 - Causes, Kings, and Interventions

Causality and Explanation in Mainstream Psychological Theory and Research*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2022

Paul van Geert  and
Naomi de Ruiter
Paul van Geert
Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
Naomi de Ruiter
Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
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Summary

This chapter examines psychology’s deeply rooted practice of explaining psychological phenomena based on the model of manipulation or intervention causality. We reveal and unpack the assumption of isolable factors that bring about a specific effect, and of unidirectional pathways from cause to effect. The chapter then dives into specific forms of causal explanation, including psychology’s tendency to explain the relationship between separate universals.

Keywords

causalityexplanation (contrastive and processual)psychotherapyprocess causalitymanipulationist (interventionist) causalityrandomized-control trials (RCTs)Aristotle's scheme of explanationTinbergen's scheme of explanation
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Chapter
Information
Toward a Process Approach in Psychology
Stepping into Heraclitus' River
 , pp. 137 - 159
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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