FriSem

Ari Beller, 4th-year PhD candidate with Assistant Professor Tobi Gerstenberg, Department of Psychology, Stanford University

Title: A Counterfactual Simulation Model of Causal Language

Abstract: The language that people use to describe causal relations in the world is varied and nuanced. Subtle differences in phrasing can amount to worlds of difference in meaning. The significance of these differences has given rise to interest in causal language across philosophy, linguistics, and psychology. In this talk, I’ll present some work we’ve been doing modeling how people’s use of particular causal expressions is related to underlying mental representations of the causal nature of the world. I’ll contextualize how our work builds on prior models developed in the literature, and present new empirical studies re-examining prior claims about the meanings of the verbs “caused” and “enabled”.