Causation in Psychology

Understanding the causation of something is not an easy task for psychology researchers. It takes time, and there are specific protocols in place that must be followed to achieve this. A researcher can't simply state that an unhealthy diet can lead to memory issues; this is a serious claim that can have serious implications. Thus, the claim must be tested using a rigorous scientific method.

• We will start by learning the causation in psychology definition.
• Then, we will explore the four rules of causation psychology.
• Following this, we will delve into the difference between correlation and causation psychology.
• Next, an example of causation in psychology will be discussed.
• Finally, we will evaluate causation research.

Fig. 1 - In psychology, researchers try to put the pieces of human behaviour together via testing causation relationships between variables.

Causation in Psychology Definition

When trying to establish a new area of knowledge in psychology, showing that the aspects of research are causally linked is the epitome of sound research.

Psychologists apply the scientific method to carry out their research. The findings from the research can be considered empirical if carried out properly. For research to be accepted by the psychology community, the investigated variables should be observable (empirical research), and the research and its results should be reliable and valid.

Causation research should state:

• The cause - describes what happens.
• The effect - explains what happens as a consequence of the cause.

Experimental research is a form of causation research. It takes place in a controlled setting and attempts to understand the causation relationship between two variables.

In the research, the independent variable is manipulated (hypothesised as the cause of the phenomenon). And the effect this has on the dependent variable is measured.

Rules of Causation: Psychology

When carrying out research that tests causal relationships, there are four rules researchers have to consider.

The first rule of causation is testing an association to establish a causation relationship between two variables, and these must be empirically tested. The findings from testing the association must have either an association or show some significant pattern or trend when empirically tested.

• Understanding causation in psychology is important because it allows psychologists to understand how factors/ actions can affect behaviour empirically. This can be applied to clinical psychology to help create interventions and to reduce risk factors.

• Specific statistical tests have been created to help understand cause-and-effect relationships. Because cause and effect can be measured using statistical analysis, the results are data-driven. The data-driven results allow the validity and reliability of the results to be tested.

The weaknesses of investigating causation relationships in psychology are:

• It isn't easy to control all confounding/extraneous variables in research, making it difficult for researchers to identify with certainty the cause of the effects and the validity of the results.

• A phenomenon's cause-and-effect relationship may describe the association between two variables; however, it may not be useful in understanding the mediational processes that cause the effect, limiting the research's utility.