Causal reasoning in rats
Causal reasoning in rats
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1121872
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发表时间：
2006-02-17
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Waldmann, MR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Blaisdell, AP;Sawa, K;Waldmann, MR
对非人类灵长类动物的实证研究似乎支持这样一种观点：因果推理是区分人类和动物的一种关键认知能力。有人声称动物通过联想过程来近似进行因果学习。目前的研究结果对这一结论提出了质疑。大鼠在一项基本任务中进行了因果推断，该任务涉及因果推理的核心特征，且不需要复杂的物理知识。它们在对不同类型的因果模型进行被动观察学习后，对干预结果做出了预测。这些能力无法用现有的联想理论来解释，但与因果贝叶斯网络理论是相符的。
Empirical research with nonhuman primates appears to support the view that causal reasoning is a key cognitive faculty that divides humans from animals. The claim is that animals approximate causal learning using associative processes. The present results cast doubt on that conclusion. Rats made causal inferences in a basic task that taps into core features of causal reasoning without requiring complex physical knowledge. They derived predictions of the outcomes of interventions after passive observational learning of different kinds of causal models. These competencies cannot be explained by current associative theories but are consistent with causal Bayes net theories.