ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the development of the child’s understanding of the causation of events and occurrences in the physical world, from the end of infancy onwards. It is concerned with the theory of causation and considers the extent to which the theory of action might be applied in the realm of physical causation. Although the theory of causation undergoes little development after early childhood, it is evident that a great deal is learned about physical causation during childhood. Several studies have investigated the use by children of stimulus features as cues to causation. Cues to causation could be abstracted from any such experiences that contribute to the development of causal understanding in infancy. There are many cues or rules that children may use for making causal inferences: generative transmission, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, similarity, temporal priority, and covariation or regularity.
