A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence

Mirian Agus; Maribel Peró-Cebollero; Joan Guàrdia-Olmos; Eliano Pessa; Rita Figus; Maria Pietronilla Penna

doi:10.29333/ejmste/106232

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Mirian Agus ¹ ^* , Maribel Peró-Cebollero ² , Joan Guàrdia-Olmos ², Eliano Pessa ³, Rita Figus ¹, Maria Pietronilla Penna ¹

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¹ Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy - Faculty of Humanistic Studies, University of Cagliari, ITALY² Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, SPAIN³ Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, ITALY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

A cross-national comparison between Italy and Spain was conducted on probabilistic reasoning performance presented in verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats. This study investigated the similarities and differences in Psychology undergraduates in these two countries (Italy n=290; Spain n=130) and attempted to identify aspects that might enhance the probability of a student belonging to one country. The findings underscored that Spanish students had higher levels of visuospatial abilities, more positive attitudes toward statistics, lower statistical anxiety, and higher confidence in the correctness of their responses. Additionally, they gave a higher number of correct responses to problems presented in a verbal-numerical format. These data suggest interesting insights and highlight the interactions among multiple layers of variables at the collective, contextual, and individual levels.

Keywords

probabilistic reasoning
abilities
attitudes
anxiety
confidence

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2019, Volume 15, Issue 10, Article No: em1752

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

Publication date: 23 Apr 2019

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APA

Agus, M., Peró-Cebollero, M., Guàrdia-Olmos, J., Pessa, E., Figus, R., & Penna, M. P. (2019). A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(10), em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

Vancouver

Agus M, Peró-Cebollero M, Guàrdia-Olmos J, Pessa E, Figus R, Penna MP. A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(10):em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

AMA

Agus M, Peró-Cebollero M, Guàrdia-Olmos J, Pessa E, Figus R, Penna MP. A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(10), em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

Chicago

Agus, Mirian, Maribel Peró-Cebollero, Joan Guàrdia-Olmos, Eliano Pessa, Rita Figus, and Maria Pietronilla Penna. "A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2019 15 no. 10 (2019): em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

Harvard

Agus, M., Peró-Cebollero, M., Guàrdia-Olmos, J., Pessa, E., Figus, R., and Penna, M. P. (2019). A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(10), em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232

MLA

Agus, Mirian et al. "A Comparison of Probabilistic Reasoning in Psychology Undergraduates in Italy and Spain: Seeking Cross-national Evidence". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 15, no. 10, 2019, em1752. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/106232