Psychological research in probabilistic understanding


Book: 
Chance Encounters: Probability in Education
Authors: 
Scholz, R. W.
Editors: 
Kapadia, R., & Borovcnik, M.
Type: 
Category: 
Pages: 
213-254
Year: 
1991
Publisher: 
Kluwer Academic Publishers
Place: 
Dordrecht, Netherlands
Abstract: 

This chapter is devoted to the research on probability which may be found in the subject of psychology, and deals with various research paradigms. Salient experimental tasks and research issues on how individuals cope with probabilistic settings are discussed. The objective is to provide a substantiated and representative review of the large number of psychological investigations. We start by presenting an indicative sample of psychological studies on people's response to probabilistic problems. Critical dimensions for judging the educational relevance of paradigms and issues will be introduced. The few developmental theories which deal with the acquisition of probability in psychology will be discussed. Shortcomings and perspectives of the educational research are critically examined in the concluding sections.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education