engleski

The impact of statistics training and educational level on reasoning performance

Modern theories of dual-process reasoning have focused on how individuals reach what are usually called analytical and intuitive decisions. According to these approaches analytical reasoning includes both application of intentional strategies and simpler conflict resolution between competing intuitions. In line with that, reasoning tasks have usually been designed to elicit at least two possible responses. One, intuitive but incorrect, and another, normatively correct but not necessarily intuitive. Recent studies have shown that analytical reasoning is related to a number of individual factors. It has been shown to correlate with higher IQ, lower conservativism, lower susceptibility to so called pseudo-profound bullshit, as well as other cognitive and personality factors. As part of a broader project which aims at constructing an accessible and reliable instrument for measuring reasoning, a large sample of Croatian (N = 292) and UK (N = 298) participants completed a number of reasoning tasks (the cognitive reflection test, the base rate neglect task, the conjunction fallacy problem, and the covariation detection task) as well as the test of statistical reasoning (TSR). Participants also provided information about educational level and formal training in statistics. The aim of this study is to determine whether there are differences in reasoning and TSR performance depending on education level and statistics training. Results revealed a small to medium effect whereby participants with statistics training performed better on both reasoning tasks and on the TSR. The main finding for the impact of highest achieved educational level (high school/undergraduate/graduate or higher) was an interaction with country of origin. Educational level had a significant, medium-sized, effect on both reasoning and TSR performance in the UK sample (higher level related to better performance) but a non- significant effect in the Croatian sample. An interesting finding was that Croatian participants performed significantly better than their UK counterparts at earlier stages of education but then plateaued. Performance of UK participants increased across educational stages to reach the same performance at the final stage. These differences may be explained by the breadth and depth of high school education in Croatia compared to the UK. Overall, statistics training and higher levels of education are related to more analytical reasoning and better statistical performance.

Reasoning ; Statistics training ; Education ; Analytical thinking

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