Yasmina Okan|Rocío García?Retamero|Edward T. Cokely|Antonio Maldonado
Biasing and debiasing health decisions with bar graphs: Costs and benefits of graph literacy
University of Leeds|Universidad de Granada|Universidad de Granada|Max Planck Institute for Human Development|Max Planck Institute for Human Development|University of Oklahoma|Universidad de Granada
bar graphs improve risk communication medicine health unfortunately recent research revealed bar graphs associated robust bias lead systematic judgement decisionmaking errors people view bar graphs representing means tend believe data points located within bars likely part underlying distributions equidistant points outside bars three experiments investigated potential consequences key cognitive mechanisms generalisability withinthebar bias medical domain also investigated effectiveness different interventions reduce effect bias protect people errors results revealed withinthebar bias systematically affected participants judgements decisions concerning treatments controlling blood glucose well interpretations ecological graphs designed guide health policy decisions interestingly individuals higher graph literacy showed largest biases however use dot plots replace bars improved accuracy interpretations perceptual mechanisms underlying withinthebar bias prescriptive implications graph design discussed