Archive of all online content

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2014)

The Equiprobability Bias from a Mathematical and Psychological Perspective

pp. 119-130
First published on 5 December 2014 | DOI:10.5709/acp-0163-9
Nicolas Gauvrit, Kinga Morsanyi
Corresponding author:
Nicolas Gauvrit, CHart Lab, École Pratique des Hautes Études, 4-14 rue Ferrus, 75014 Paris, France.
E-mail: ngauvrit@me.com
APA
Gauvrit, N., & Morsanyi, K. (2014). The equiprobability bias from a mathematical and psychological perspective. Advances in cognitive psychology, 10(4), 119-130. https://doi.org/10.5709/acp-0163-9
Abstract

The equiprobability bias (EB) is a tendency to believe that every process in which randomness is involved corresponds to a fair distribution, with equal probabilities for any possible outcome. The EB is known to affect both children and adults, and to increase with probability education. Because it results in probability errors resistant to pedagogical interventions, it has been described as a deep misconception about randomness: the erroneous belief that randomness implies uniformity. In the present paper, we show that the EB is actually not the result of a conceptual error about the definition of randomness. On the contrary, the mathematical theory of randomness does imply uniformity. However, the EB is still a bias, because people tend to assume uniformity even in the case of events that are not random. The pervasiveness of the EB reveals a paradox: The combination of random processes is not necessarily random. The link between the EB and this paradox is discussed, and suggestions are made regarding educational design to overcome difficulties encountered by students as a consequence of the EB.

Keywords: equiprobability bias, subjective probability, complexity, randomness, uniformity

Gaining the Upper Hand: Evidence of Vertical Asymmetry in Sex-Categorisation of Human Hands

pp. 131-143
First published on 31 December 2014 | DOI:10.5709/acp-0164-8
Genevieve L. Quek, Matthew Finkbeiner
Corresponding author:
Genevieve Quek, Department of Cognitive Science, Level 3, 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
E-mail: genevieve.lauren.quek@gmail.com
APA
Quek, G. L., & Finkbeiner, M. (2014). Gaining the upper hand: evidence of vertical asymmetry in sex-categorisation of human hands. Advances in cognitive psychology, 10(4), 131-143. https://doi.org/10.5709/acp-0164-8
Abstract

Visual perception is characterised by asymmetries arising from the brain’s preferential response to particular stimulus types at different retinal locations. Where the lower visual field (LVF) holds an advantage over the upper visual field (UVF) for many tasks (e.g., hue discrimination, contrast sensitivity, motion processing), face-perception appears best supported at above-fixation locations (Quek & Finkbeiner, 2014a). This finding is consistent with Previc’s (1990) suggestion that vision in the UVF has become specialised for object recognition processes often required in ”extrapersonal” space. Outside of faces, however, there have been very few investigations of vertical asymmetry effects for higher-level objects. Our aim in the present study was, thus, to determine whether the UVF advantage reported for face-perception would extend to a nonface object – human hands. Participants classified the sex of hand images presented above or below central fixation by reaching out to touch a left or right response panel. On each trial, a briefly presented spatial cue captured the participant’s spatial attention to either the location where the hand was about to appear (valid cue) or the opposite location (invalid cue). We observed that cue validity only modulated the efficiency of the sex-categorisation response for targets in the LVF and not the UVF, just as we have reported previously for face-sex categorisation (Quek & Finkbeiner, 2014a). Taken together, the data from these studies provide some empirical support for Previc’s (1990) speculation that object recognition processes may enjoy an advantage in the upper-hemifield.

Keywords: vertical asymmetry, upper visual field, lower visual field, attention, sex-categorisation, hands

Tasks financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education on the basis of the contract no. 801/P-DUN/2018 out of the funds designed for activities promoting science: Preparation and editing of English versions of articles, Financing foreign Editors-in-Chief, Dissemination of publications and increasing their accessibility to a broad range of readers, Creation of the XML conversion platform to improve the access to the articles (2018-2019). Advances in Cognitive Psychology is co-financed by the Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki) under the program "Rozwój czasopism naukowych," RCN/SN/0494/2021/1.

Zadania finansowane w ramach umowy 801/P-DUN/2018 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę: Finansowanie zagranicznych redaktorów naczelnych; Przygotowanie i edycja anglojęzycznych publikacji; Upowszechnianie publikacji i ułatwianie dostępu do nich szerokiemu gronu odbiorców; Utworzenie nowej platformy do udostępniania artykułów. Advances in Cognitive Psychology jest współfinansowane przez Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki w ramach programu "Rozwój czasopism naukowych," RCN/SN/0494/2021/1.