SeminarPast EventCognition

Causal Reasoning: Its role in the architecture and development of the mind

Schedule
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
15:00 UTC
Andreas Demetriou

Prof

University of Nicosia

Host: Learning and Reasoning

Event Information

Host

Learning and Reasoning

Duration

90 minutes

Abstract

The seminar will first outline the architecture of the human mind, specifying general and domain-specific mental processes. The place of causal reasoning and its relations with the other processes will be specified. Experimental, psychometric, developmental, and brain-based evidence will be summarized. The main message of the talk is that causal thought involves domain-specific core processes rooted in perception and served by special brain networks which capture interactions between objects. With development, causal reasoning is increasingly associated with a general abstraction system which generates general principles underlying inductive, analogical, and deductive reasoning and also heuristics for specifying causal relations. These associations are discussed in some detail. Possible implications for artificial intelligence and educational implications are also discussed.

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