数字可以抵千言万语：理解与健康相关信息的图形和数字表示形式方面的个体差异。

Numbers can be worth a thousand pictures: individual differences in understanding graphical and numerical representations of health-related information.

机构信息

Harding Center for Risk Literacy, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.

出版信息

Health Psychol. 2012 May;31(3):286-96. doi: 10.1037/a0024850. Epub 2011 Aug 15.

DOI:10.1037/a0024850

PMID:21842998

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Informed medical decision making requires comprehending statistical information. We aimed to improve the understanding of conveying health-related statistical information with graphical representations compared with numerical representations. First, we investigated whether the iconicity of representations (i.e., their abstractness vs. concreteness) affected comprehension and recall of statistical information. Second, we investigated whether graph literacy helps to identify individuals who comprehend graphical representations better than numerical representations.

METHOD

Participants (N = 275) were randomly assigned to receive different representations of health-related statistical information, ranging from very low iconicity (numbers) to very high iconicity (icon arrays including photographs). Comprehension and recall of the information were assessed. Additionally, participants rated the accessibility of the information and the attractiveness of the representation. Graph literacy was assessed by means of a recently developed scale.

RESULTS

The only difference between representations that affected comprehension and recall was the difference between graphics and numbers; the actual level of iconicity of graphics did not matter. Individuals with high graph literacy had better comprehension and recall when presented with graphics instead of numbers, and they rated graphical information as more accessible than numerical information, whereas the reverse was true for individuals with low graph literacy, F(4, 185) = 2.60, p = .04, η(p)(²) = .05, and F(4, 245) = 2.71, p = .03, η(p)(2) = .04, respectively. Both groups judged graphical representations as more attractive than numerical representations.

CONCLUSION

An assessment of graph literacy distinguished individuals who are best informed with graphical representations of statistical information from those who are better informed with numerical representations.

摘要

目的

知情医疗决策需要理解统计信息。我们旨在通过与数值表示相比，提高对传达健康相关统计信息的图形表示的理解和回忆能力。首先，我们调查了表示形式的形象性（即，它们的抽象性与具体性）是否会影响对统计信息的理解和回忆。其次，我们调查了图表读写能力是否有助于确定哪些人更能理解图形表示而非数值表示。

方法

参与者（N=275）被随机分配接收不同的健康相关统计信息表示形式，从非常低的形象性（数字）到非常高的形象性（包括照片的图标数组）。评估了信息的理解和回忆。此外，参与者还对信息的可及性和表示形式的吸引力进行了评分。图表读写能力通过最近开发的量表进行评估。

结果

唯一影响理解和回忆的表示形式差异是图形和数字之间的差异；图形的实际形象性水平并不重要。与呈现数字相比，具有高图表读写能力的个体在呈现图形时具有更好的理解和回忆能力，并且他们将图形信息评为比数字信息更易获取，而对于图表读写能力较低的个体则相反，F(4, 185)=2.60, p=.04, η(p)(²)=.05，F(4, 245)=2.71, p=.03, η(p)(2)=.04，分别。两组都认为图形表示比数字表示更具吸引力。