Influencing Preferences for Different Types of Causal Explanation of Complex Events.

The article discusses a study which investigated the preferences of college students for different forms of causal explanations for indeterminate situations. Topics include the forms of casual explanations, factors that govern preferences for single-cause versus multiple-cause explanations, and the relationship between representational format and perceived quality of causal explanations. The study concludes that preferences for explanation forms vary depending on the context and the audience.