Causal Cognition: A Multidisciplinary Approach

by Dan Sperber (editor), David Premack (Editor), Ann James Premack (Editor)

While most psychologists agree that understanding cause-effect relationships is fundamental to the study of cognition, exactly how those relationships should be interpreted is open to serious debate. In Causal Cognition , leading experts from a range of disciplines--including philosophy,
anthropology, and comparative, social, and developmental psychology--come together to offer an interdisciplinary, cutting-edge account of the field. Reflecting on a range of topics, from the role and forms of causal knowledge (both in animal and human cognition) to the development of human causal
understanding, the various contributors highlight areas where different approaches converge and conflict. The result is an insightful status report of a fascinating subject that will appeal to students and researchers across the social sciences.

690 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Dan Sperber is a French social and cognitive scientist. His most influential work has been in the fields of cognitive anthropology and linguistic pragmatics: developing, with British psychologist Deirdre Wilson, relevance theory in the latter; and an approach to cultural evolution known as the 'epidemiology of representations' in the former. Sperber currently holds the positions of Directeur de Recherche émérite at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Director of the International Cognition and Culture Institute.