The application of graphical representations in estimation of probabilistic events

The communication of uncertain and certain information is essential for individualbehaviour and decision making. But many subjects have difficulty in understandinguncertainty-related problems. This difficulty can depend on the way in whichmaterials are presented and communicated: for example, whether this is verbalnumericalor graphical. We measured subjects performances when solving uncertainty-related problems in relation to the format of problem presentation, aimingto detect the graphical facilitation effect potentially produced by Euler-Venn andIconic diagrams. Through a quasi-experimental mixed design, we analysed the performanceof 229 undergraduate students in solving two paired uncertainty-relatedproblems under conditions of time pressure. Applying a non-parametric statisticaldata analysis, we found a graphical facilitation effect, particularly with Euler-Venn diagrams.