Event Causation Research Articles

Causación, producción y función

Despite repeated attempts, event causation has not been successfully explicated. Two views are possible: that an adequate explication must still be found, or that no causation relation exists, and no explication is due. David Lewis suggests that causation is a natural relation betwen the causally connected events. Eduardo Flichman, instead, considers that the relation is not a natural one: whenever causation is attributed, an anthropomorphic production relation is projected on the events. Here we present counterexamples to both proposals, and suggest a modification of the second that avoids the counterexamples, taking into account another anthropomorphic projected relation: the functional relation. We also try to characterize this notion of function. We agree with Flichman in considering that anthropomorphic relations and hence also causation do not exist in the fields covered by the natural sciences. Finally, we consider the question whether Lewis’s causation and nomologic connection are necessary conditions for cases in which there is talk of causation. 90

Agent Causation and Event Causation in the Production of Free Action

Agent Causation and Event Causation in the Production of Free Action

Some phenomenological implications of a quantum model of consciousness

We contrast person-centered categories with “objective” categories related to physics: consciousness vs. mechanism, observer vs. observed, agency vs. event causation. semantics vs. syntax, beliefs and desires vs. dispositions. How are these two sets of categories related? This talk will discuss just one such dichotomy: consciousness vs. mechanism. Two extreme views are dualism and reductionism. An intermediate view is emergence. Here, consciousness is part of the natural order (as against dualism), but consciousness is not definable only in terms of physical mass, length, and time (as against reductionism). There are several detailed theories of emergence. One is based on the Great Chain of Being and on organic evolutionary hierarchy. The theory here is based instead on the concept of “relational holism” in quantum mechanics. The resulting brain model has two interacting systems: a computational system and a quantum system (a Bose-Einstein condensate), perhaps interacting via EEG waves. Thus, we need both person-centered and matter-centered categories to describe human beings. Some possible experimental tests are discussed.

Mega-events and urban policy

The paper argues that the search for explanation should guide mega-event research. The influence of planning, political, and urban contextual processes and factors on mega-event production is illustrated through a discussion of comparative event research and a case study of Sheffield's Universiade 1991. This research indicates the important influence of contextual societal change, urban leadership, and nonrational planning in event production processes. These factors are important for understanding both event causation and also the potentially rational character of event policymaking. The strengths and limitations of ‘planning’ and ‘political’ approaches to understanding events are considered. A relevant research agenda is briefly outlined.

Did My Drug Cause This? an Academic Perspective

Academicians working in a university hospital environment play an important role in reporting adverse drug events. While their perspective differs to some extent from persons involved in regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, the overall approach and goals to assessing adverse event causation are very similar. A number of factors must be considered to improve the recognition, attribution, and reporting of adverse drug events in the clinical setting. The consequences of poorly documented associations that raise unfounded concerns over the use of certain drugs should be considered in disseminating information on suspected adverse drug events.

Counterfactuals and event causation

Counterfactuals and event causation

Precis of Events and Their Names

numbers in this abstract correspond to the chapter numbers in the book. 1. By names of events I mean sentence-nominals that refer to events. Following Vendler, I take it that these will be perfect and not imperfect nominals. Quisling's betrayal of Norway (perfect) was an event; Quisling's betraying Norway (imperfect) is a fact, namely the fact that Quisling betrayed Norway. Quisling's betraying Norway is different from his doing Norway a disservice; these are two facts. His betrayal of Norway was his disservice to Norway; there was only the one event. 2. According to the concept of fact, two imperfect nominals pick out the same fact only if they are logically equivalent to one another. Thus, the whole intrinsic nature of any fact can be read off from the nominal that refers to it: what you see is what you get. fact concept is coarser: according to it, the fact that De Gaulle shouts Vive le Quebec libre! is the fact that the tallest French politician shouts Vive le Quebec libre! if De Gaulle is the tallest French politician. So a Russellian fact name does not declare the whole intrinsic nature of the named fact. highlighted fact concept is finer than the Fregean one: it distinguishes the fact that it was Mary who stole the bicycle from the fact that it was the bicycle that Mary stole. I offer an account of what highlighting amounts to, in support of my conviction that it is not important. 3. Fact-causation statements-P's being the case led causally to Q's being the case-admit of two analyses. (i) NS analysis focuses on the idea that P's being the case is a necessary part of a sufficient condition for Q's being the case. This is adapted from Mackie's theory of INUS conditions, with the vowels removed because what they stand for should not occur in the analysis. For a little more on this, see 2.1 in my reply to reviewers. (ii) counterfactual analysis focuses on the statement that if P had not been the case Q would not have been the case. 4. Event causation statements-e.g., The explosion caused the firehave also been given two different analyses. (i) According to the relational analysis, ei caused e2 asserts that a certain triadic relation holds amongst

A perceived control intervention for at-risk older adults.

Models of event causation and affective processes were used to design an experimental intervention for older adults. Ss were 2 at-risk populations, recently disabled and recently bereaved, each with matched nonrisk controls. Ss were randomly assigned to a placebo-contact group, a no-contact control group, or a 4-session, 10-week intervention focused on enhancing perceived control. Dependent variables assessed were personal mastery, psychological well-being and distress, positive and negative affect, and measures of daily events and activities. The intervention was nested within a 16-month longitudinal assessment of stress and adaptation processes in a large sample of community residents. The intervention had mixed effects on reports of personal mastery, but it significantly increased engagement in desirable activities and significantly decreased psychological distress and negative affect. Effects tended to be short-lived, however. Effects of the intervention tended to be particularly significant for the disabled group.

A perceived control intervention for at-risk older adults.

Models of event causation and affective processes were used to design an experimental intervention for older adults. Ss were 2 at-risk populations, recently disabled and recently bereaved, each with matched nonrisk controls. Ss were randomly assigned to a placebo-contact group, a no-contact control group, or a 4-session, 10-week intervention focused on enhancing perceived control. Dependent variables assessed were personal mastery, psychological well-being and distress, positive and negative affect, and measures of daily events and activities. The intervention was nested within a 16-month longitudinal assessment of stress and adaptation processes in a large sample of community residents. The intervention had mixed effects on reports of personal mastery, but it significantly increased engagement in desirable activities and significantly decreased psychological distress and negative affect. Effects tended to be short-lived, however. Effects of the intervention tended to be particularly significant for the disabled group.

Activity, event transactions, and quality of life in older adults.

A multidimensional assessment of activity and subjective well-being based on a cognitive model of event causation was tested in a sample of 60 older adults. Activity was conceptualized as involving the occurrence of an event, the presence or absence of a response to that event, and the hedonic tone of the outcome of that transaction. Events were categorized as to whether the environment or the individual initiated them: demands or desires, respectively. Well-being was conceptualized as having two independent components, positive and negative, assessed by positive and negative mood scales and general well-being and quality-of-life scales. Analyses showed that older adults who were responsive to events reported more positive well-being, but high responding was also associated with negative aspects of well-being. Demands interacted with desire responding and outcome; affective outcomes of desired actions were significantly influenced by the occurrence of demand events. Results are interpreted in an expanded model of activity theory.

The Conditions of Action, Power and the Problem of Interests

It is argued that the problem of ‘structure and agency’ should be reconsidered as the problem of ‘fate and agency’ for event causation and agency causation). The problem of fate and agency is addressed by outlining a model of the conditions of action derived from work by Giddens and Wright Mills. The model uses the concepts of different forms of knowledge and of the unintended consequence to set up a framework by which it should, in principle, be possible to decide of fate or events. This framework is then used to discuss the problems raised by defining power in terms of interests. It is argued that this definition is inadequate and suggested that a definition of power based on access to resources and causal responsibility for outcomes may be more useful.

Daily event causation: An approach to elderly life quality

Arizona State UniversityA conceptual framework for analyzing the role of daily events in the qualityof life (QOL) of the elderly is presented. Concepts involving perceptions ofcontrol over the causation of daily events are shown to relate to positive andnegative aspects of adjustment. Prior research by the authors has shown theutility of assessing the following event sequence: causation of event, responseto event, outcome of event activity. The elements in this sequence can berelated independently to QOL, and each or all can be differentially impactedby the aging process. The literature on four aspects of aging {retirement,death of a significant other, relocation, and institutionalization) and activity,disengagement, and congruence models are reviewed from an event-activityapproach. A single case study demonstrating the potential utility of the ap-proach is presented.The quality of life (QOL) of the elderly depends upon numerous factors, both per-sonal and environmental, operating separately and interacting. In our research on QOL,we have found that the study of events and related concepts provide some useful analytictools for piecing together many of the diverse elements. Both theoretical and practicalissues are involved here. Theoretical progress has been made because the frameworkallows for the integration of a number of distinct areas of research, and practical issuesare involved because it appears to offer the promise of developing clearly focused ways inwhich community resources can be brought to bear on improving the lives of the elderly.It should be noted that as yet there is little or no gerontological research integratingthese concepts with data. Our plan here is to sketch the conceptual outlines of what mightbe a useful empirical approach to QOL of the elderly. We will first review our frameworkfor studying the impact of events and then review how the relevant gerontologicalliterature might be integrated with that framework.Events and Event CausationAn enduring tenet of community psychology is that the quality of a person's life Isrelated to the types of events he/she experiences (Bloom, 1971; Zautra & Goodhart,1978). The concept of event is multifaceted; in our own research we have found it par-ticularly useful to analyze the causal properties of events that people experience in every-day life.Stated in its most elementary form, this approach maps experience into two distinctcausal domains: (a) Events that we cause and (b) events that occur independent of ourown efforts. The general theoretical principle involved here is that of cognitive controlalong with intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for engaging in actions. People do thingsbecause they want to and that freedom of choice has an important impact on their inter-pretation of how their life is going. Oftentimes events arise independently of choice; theyare externally initiated and put pressure on the person to respond. That external sourceof causation also has an impact. We refer to these two types of events that relate to daily