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The public's probabilistic numeracy: How tasks, education and exposure to games of chance shape it
Author(s) -
Hertwig Ralph,
Andrea Zangerl Monika,
Biedert Esther,
Margraf Jürgen
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of behavioral decision making
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0771
pISSN - 0894-3257
DOI - 10.1002/bdm.611
Subject(s) - probabilistic logic , numeracy , competence (human resources) , sample (material) , task (project management) , psychology , sample complexity , computer science , statistical model , econometrics , cognitive psychology , mathematics education , social psychology , artificial intelligence , mathematics , economics , pedagogy , chemistry , management , chromatography , literacy
As we navigate a world full of uncertainties and risks, dominated by statistics, we need to be able to think statistically. Very few studies investigating people's ability to understand simple concepts and rules from probability theory have drawn representative samples from the public. For this reason we investigated a representative sample of 1000 Swiss citizens, using six probabilistic problems. Most reasoned appropriately in problems representing pure applications of probability theory, but failed to do so in approximations of real‐world scenarios – a disparity we replicated in a sample of first‐year psychology students. Additionally, education is associated with probabilistic numeracy in the former but not the latter type of problems. We discuss possible reasons for these task disparities and suggest that gaining a comprehensive picture of citizens' probabilistic competence and its determinants requires using both types of tasks. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.