This research examines the relationship between the concept of CAUSE as it is characterized in psychological models of causation and the meaning of causal verbs, such as the verb cause itself. According to focal set models of causation (; ), the concept of CAUSE should be more similar to the concepts of ENABLE and PREVENT than either is to each other. According to a model based on theory of force dynamics, the force dynamic model, the concepts of CAUSE, ENABLE, and PREVENT should be roughly equally similar to one another. The relationship between these predictions and the meaning of causal verbs was examined by having participants sort causal verbs and rate them with respect to the dimensions specified by the two models. The results from five experiments indicated that the force dynamic model provides a better account of the meaning of causal verbs than do focal set models of causation. Implications for causal inference and induction are discussed.

中文翻译：

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因果关系模型和因果动词的语义

本研究考察了因果关系心理学模型中的 CAUSE 概念与因果动词的含义（例如动词原因本身）之间的关系。根据因果关系的焦点集模型 (; )，CAUSE 的概念应该更类似于 ENABLE 和 PREVENT 的概念，而不是彼此之间。根据基于力动力学理论的模型，力动力学模型中的 CAUSE、ENABLE 和 PREVENT 的概念应该大致相同。通过让参与者对因果动词进行排序并根据两个模型指定的维度对它们进行评分，来检查这些预测与因果动词含义之间的关系。五个实验的结果表明，力动态模型比因果关系的焦点集模型更好地解释了因果动词的含义。讨论了因果推理和归纳的含义。