Sirota, Miroslav and Kostovičová, Lenka and Juanchich, Marie (2014) The effect of iconicity of visual displays on statistical reasoning: evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21 (4). pp. 961-968. DOI https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-013-0555-4
Sirota, Miroslav and Kostovičová, Lenka and Juanchich, Marie (2014) The effect of iconicity of visual displays on statistical reasoning: evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21 (4). pp. 961-968. DOI https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-013-0555-4
Sirota, Miroslav and Kostovičová, Lenka and Juanchich, Marie (2014) The effect of iconicity of visual displays on statistical reasoning: evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21 (4). pp. 961-968. DOI https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-013-0555-4
Abstract
Knowing which properties of visual displays facilitate statistical reasoning bears practical and theoretical implications. Therefore, we studied the effect of one property of visual diplays - iconicity (i.e., the resemblance of a visual sign to its referent) - on Bayesian reasoning. Two main accounts of statistical reasoning predict different effect of iconicity on Bayesian reasoning. The ecological-rationality account predicts a positive iconicity effect, because more highly iconic signs resemble more individuated objects, which tap better into an evolutionary-designed frequency-coding mechanism that, in turn, facilitates Bayesian reasoning. The nested-sets account predicts a null iconicity effect, because iconicity does not affect the salience of a nested-sets structure-the factor facilitating Bayesian reasoning processed by a general reasoning mechanism. In two well-powered experiments (N = 577), we found no support for a positive iconicity effect across different iconicity levels that were manipulated in different visual displays (meta-analytical overall effect: log OR = -0.13, 95 % CI [-0.53, 0.28]). A Bayes factor analysis provided strong evidence in favor of the null hypothesis-the null iconicity effect. Thus, these findings corroborate the nested-sets rather than the ecological-rationality account of statistical reasoning. © 2013 Psychonomic Society, Inc.
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Iconicity; Bayesian reasoning; Visual displays; Nested sets; Bayes factor |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 22 Sep 2015 11:55 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 20:35 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/14984 |