INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD TO ESTIMATE CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES

Provided is an information processing apparatus that tests independence between multiple variables, the information processing apparatus including: a discretization section that discretizes at least one numerical variable on the basis of at least one categorical variable, when the categorical variable and the numerical variable are included in at least two dependent variables in a graphical model and a set of conditional variables serving as conditions of independence between the two variables; and a test execution section that executes a test for conditional independence between the two variables by using the categorical variable and a discrete variable which is obtained by discretizing the numerical variable.