Association versus causation

Causation, Association and Confirmation

Many philosophers of science have argued that a set of evidence that is "coherent" confirms a hypothesis which explains such coherence. In this paper, we examine the relationships between probabilistic models of all three of these concepts: coherence, confirmation, and explanation. For coherence, we consider Shogenji's measure of association (deviation from independence). For confirmation, we c...

Proving Causation: Probability versus Belief

From epidemiological association to causation.

The fundamental objective of epidemiology is the identification of the causes of disease through the appropriate study of the distribution of cases within groups of humans with a range of identified characteristics, such as different levels of exposure to some agent, for example, a chemical. However, epidemiology is predominantly an observational (i.e. non-experimental) science that draws its d...

Correlation versus causation in multisensory perception.

Events are often perceived in multiple modalities. The co-occurring proximal visual and auditory stimuli events are mostly also causally linked to the distal event, which makes it difficult to evaluate whether learned correlation or perceived causation guides binding in multisensory perception. Piano tones are an interesting exception: They are associated with the act of the pianist striking ke...

Otosclerosis and measles virus - association or causation?

Otosclerosis is a frequent condition which occurs exclusively in the human temporal bone. This peculiar disease affects mainly Caucasians and Indians and may cause conductive, mixed conductive-sensorineural or occasionally merely sensorineural hearing loss. Morphological investigations of the otosclerotic focus show all three phases of a chronic inflammation with bone resorption, formation of n...