The Role of Explanation in Causal Reasoning and Categorization

儿童、成人和科学家都以一个共同的问题面对这个世界：为什么？我们想知道为什么人们会以特定的方式行事，为什么物体具有特定的属性，以及为什么事件会以这样的方式展开。先前的研究表明，有不同类型的解释具有独特的性质，其中机械解释诉诸于因果机制，功能解释诉诸于功能和目标。例如，老虎身上的条纹可以从机械上解释为对基因和发育的吸引力，或者从功能上解释为对伪装的吸引力。该项目旨在研究这些解释与基本认知过程之间的关系。特别是，研究者将会提出这样的问题：机械解释和功能解释是否会导致对物体概念化的不同方式，甚至导致对世界因果结构的不同表达方式。鉴于解释与理解之间的密切关系，解释可能对认知产生深远的影响。这项工作将解决认知心理学中关于因果推理和分类的当代问题，并有可能解决目前关于因果表征的性质和因果信念和分类功能的作用的争议。该项目也与哲学中关于因果关系和解释的问题相关，并将促进跨学科的交流。最后，通过揭示不同类型解释的特点和后果，本研究将为研究儿童和成人对科学解释的理解奠定基础，包括为什么一些科学解释特别难以掌握以及如何克服这一困难。

Children, adults, and scientists alike confront the world with a common question: Why? We wonder why people behave in particular ways, why objects have specific properties, and why events unfold as they do. Previous research suggests that there are different kinds of explanations with unique properties, among them mechanistic explanations that appeal to causal mechanisms, and functional explanations that appeal to functions and goals. For example, a tiger's stripes can be explained mechanistically by appeal to genes and development, or functionally by appeal to camouflage. The proposed project investigates the relationship between these kinds of explanations and basic cognitive processes. In particular, the investigators will ask the question of whether mechanistic and functional explanations lead to different ways of conceptualizing objects, and even to different ways of representing the causal structure of the world. Given the intimate relationship between explanation and understanding, explanations may have far-reaching effects on cognition. The proposed work will address contemporary issues in cognitive psychology concerning causal reasoning and categorization, and has the potential to resolve current controversies concerning the nature of causal representation and the role of causal beliefs and functions in categorization. The project is also of relevance to issues in philosophy regarding causation and explanation, and will foster interdisciplinary communication. Finally, by uncovering the characteristics and consequences of different kinds of explanations, the proposed work will lay the foundations for research concerning children and adults' understanding of scientific explanations, including why some scientific explanations are especially difficult to grasp and how this difficulty can be overcome.