A Vector Model of Causal Meaning

This paper proposes a new model of causal meaning, the Vector Model, which formalizes a model of causation based on Talmy’s notions of force dynamics (Wolff, Song, & Driscoll, 2002). In the Vector Model, the concepts of CAUSE, ENABLE and PREVENT are distinguished from one another in terms of force vectors, their resultant and the relationship of each force vector to a target vector. The predictions of the model were tested in two experiments in which participants saw realistic 3D-animations of an inflatable boat moving through a pool of water. The boat’s movements were completely determined by the force vectors entered into a physics simulator. Participants’ linguistic descriptions of the animations were closely matched by those predicted by the model given the same force vectors as those used to produce the animations. Our model may have implications for the semantics of causal verbs as well as the perception of causal events.