NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED617481
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Math Predictors of Numeric Health and Non-Health Decision-Making Problems
Thompson, Clarissa A.; Taber, Jennifer M.; Fitzsimmons, Charles J.; Sidney, Pooja G.
Grantee Submission, Journal of Numerical Cognition v7 n2 p221-239 2021
People frequently encounter numeric information in medical and health contexts. In this paper, we investigated the math factors that are associated with decision-making accuracy in health and non-health contexts. This is an important endeavor given that there is relatively little cross-talk between math cognition researchers and those studying health decision making. Ninety adults (M = 37 years; 86% White; 51% male) answered hypothetical health decision-making problems, and 93 adults (M = 36 years; 75% White; 42% males) answered a non-health decision-making problem. All participants were recruited from an online panel. Each participant completed a battery of tasks involving objective math skills (e.g., whole number and fraction estimation, comparison, arithmetic fluency, objective numeracy, etc.) and subjective ratings of their math attitudes, anxiety, and subjective numeracy. In separate regression models, we identified which objective and subjective math measures were associated with health and non-health decision-making accuracy. Magnitude comparison accuracy, multi-step arithmetic accuracy, and math anxiety accounted for significant variance in health decision-making accuracy, whereas attention to math, as illustrated in open-ended strategy reports, was the only significant predictor of non-health decision-making accuracy. Importantly, reliable and valid measures from the math cognition literature were more strongly related to health decision-making accuracy than were commonly used subjective and objective measures of numeracy. These results have a practical implication: Understanding the math factors that are associated with health decision-making performance could inform future interventions to enhance comprehension of numeric health information.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A160295; R305U200004
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/tvc9f/
Author Affiliations: N/A