Correlation, causation, motivation, and second language acquisition.

Abstract

Prix de la SCP pour contribution remarquable a 1'education et la formation en psychologic (1999) It is well known to anyone who has taken even an introductory course in statistics that "correlation does not mean causation. " This is a truism! The present article examines four truisms about correlation, demonstrating that they are not always true. For example, under certain conditions, correlation can imply causation, though these conditions are seldom satisfied in most applications. Nonetheless, there are many of us who are interested in investigating individual differences, and in making inferences of the type that this individual difference variable is related to, mediates, moderates, or even causes or influences that individual difference variable. Generally speaking, the