The explanation of occurrences and non‐occurrences: A test of the inductive logic model of causal attribution

An inductive logic model of the process of causal attribution is outlined and contrasted with existing formulations of the covariational model of the attribution process. It is shown how the definition of causality employed in the inductive logic model can be extended to the explanation of non‐occurrences. Using an elaborated methodology, it is shown that the inductive logic model successfully predicts attributions that may not have been made in previous experiments due to deficiencies in the response format employed. In particular, the inductive logic model is shown to predict some interactional categories of attributional response better than previous models. Finally, the assumptions of the inductive logic model are set in the context of other theories of the attribution process.