An Introduction to Cause and Effect Reasoning

At some point or the other, we all have been told that there are consequences to our actions. This is cause and effect. While making a decision, we find ourselves thinking about how or what the outcome will be. One could also be thinking about the reason or the cause for a present occurring phenomenon or event. If one is late to work because of traffic, then traffic is the cause, while the effect is him being late to work… This concept is used extensively in competitive exams to understand the manner of thinking of the candidate’s ability to deduce the cause and effect.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

The concept is simple to understand. Every effect is assumed to have a cause, and every cause will have an effect. There are two conditions that we need to know about. A necessary condition, where certain elements must be present without which the event will not happen. The other is the sufficient condition, where the presence of a component is enough or sufficient for the event to occur. It is evident that the effect succeeds the cause or the cause precedes the development. There may be closely related or associated events, but they are not of a cause-and-effect nature.

TYPES OF CAUSES

There are three types of causes.

• Common cause: In this, two effects can be traced to a single cause.

For example, there is a tremendous loss of forest life and jungles. There are many animal attacks in rural areas. These two can be linked to one cause, which is rapid urbanization.

1. Immediate cause: In this, the effect almost immediately follows the reason. It is practically simultaneous. For example, Rakesh punched John, and John’s nose broke. In this situation, the effect is John’s broken nose, while the cause is Rakesh punching him. There is almost no time interval between the two.
2. Principle cause:   In this, the cause is the most crucial reason behind the effect. It is absolutely and singularly the reason for the occurrence of an event. The man was shot, and hence he died on the spot. In this, the man died solely because of being shot.

CAUSE AND EFFECT IN THE COMPETITIVE EXAMS

Problems on cause and effect are often given heavy weightage in exams like banking to see how the candidate is thinking. It is handy in determining specific outcomes and, therefore, the candidate’s readiness to deal with them. In banking exams, the concept of cause and effect is efficient and applicable. Since the banking sector deals with many policies, like monetary and fiscal policies, new RBI regulations, and many others, it is vital to know or contemplate the outcome of thinking a certain way. For instance, say the RBI will one day decide to increase the money supply in the economy by reducing the cash reserve ratio. The effect here will be a rise in the amount of money in the economy, and the cause is the RBI’s reduction in CRR. However, there is going to be an unseen effect as well. Inflation. Inflation is directly proportional to the amount of money in the economy.

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE PRACTISING  CAUSE AND EFFECT QUESTIONS

1. Ensure that you read the statement correctly and understand its dynamics.
2. Do not rush into assuming or deriving a relationship which is not specified. Answer strictly as per the rubrics given
3. There will be questions that may be very lengthy and thereby confusing. However, the weightage will be equal for all. Pick your battles
4. The inclusion of the cause and effect concept is to test your reasoning and thinking ability. So think

 TYPES/PATTERNS OF QUESTIONS

• If or not the causes are independent
• If both are the effects of an independent clause or not.
• Both are the effects of a common cause.
• Matching of statements 1 and 2

CONCLUSION

 Cause and effect are vital to knowing how the candidate is thinking. It is convenient in many scenarios and, therefore, an integral part of the Union public service commission, State service public commission, Banking exams, and other organisations and institutions involved in policy making. Because policymaking primarily deals with producing a cause to attain a particular effect, it becomes imperative to have the knack to identify and predict cause and effect between events. One must stay calm and think before answering the questions as that’s precisely what they’re there for to analyse your thinking.