Predictive behavior and causal learning in animals and humans1

Abstract

AbstractThe ability to learn causal relationships between external events is important for animals, including human beings, in order to select appropriate predictive behavior. Historically, associative theories have claimed that the association between events is crucial, and automatic bottom‐up processes play a role in achieving this goal, particularly in animals. Although associative theories could give a parsimonious explanation for predictive behavior in animals without the concept of causality, recently, several experiments have shown evidence that even rats can acquire and use causal knowledge to predict possible future events. In this article, I review the major contribution of associative theories to predictive behavior and also theoretical advances in causal reasoning in animals as strong counter‐evidence.