ABSTRACT
Human brains have evolved to process information in ways that influence how evidence is sought, generated, and used. Many recent books have summarized research findings on human cognitive strengths, limitations, and idiosyncrasies and how they apply to topics such as making decisions, judging information, and setting goals. This chapter describes how these findings can be applied to the process of causal assessment. It provides an overview of the challenge. The chapter discusses the human tendency to form initial judgments quickly based on our prior perceptions, rules of thumb, and information readily at hand. It describes how the overall approach and specific strategies described in this book help minimize errors and biases. Ecological causal assessments are rarely conducted when the cause is obvious and the solution clear. Rather, ecological causal assessments are frequently conducted in situations where the effects of multiple, covarying stressors are difficult to discriminate.
