ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this chapter, then, is to argue against the idea that regularity (or covariation) is basic or essential to causal attribution, and to argue instead that regularity information has no more than a supporting role to play in causal attribution. After an introductory section listing the types of regularity information, the main body of the chapter organises the arguments under two main headings, arguing that people are not naIve regularity theorists, and that regUlarity information is neither necessary nor sufficient for causal attribution. The following chapters layout an alternative theoretical approach to causal attribution, and analyse the place that regularity information occupies under that alternative.