---
title: "A Model of the Common-Sense Theory of Intention and Personal Causation"
authors:
  - "Charles F. Schmidt"
  - "John D'Addamio"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1973/59"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1973/0059.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1973
pages: "465-470"
track: "Psychology and A.I"
keywords:
---

# A Model of the Common-Sense Theory of Intention and Personal Causation

Charles F. Schmidt, John D'Addamio

*Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 465-470.

## Abstract

Certain general properties of man's ability to interpret the actions of other persons are discussed. Some distinguishing features of this common-sense theory include the nature of the modal operators of Can and Try, the asymmetry of implication, and the capacity to embed models within models. The structure of a proposed model of this naive theory of personal causation is presented. This model arrives at a specific interpretation of another's actions by showing that these actions represent a possible path to a particular goal that is consistent with the axioms of the belief system's theory of human motivation and personality organization.