statistics anxiety is unique among anxieties

180 Pages·2016·2.59 MB·English

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Chew, Peter K.H. (2016) An absence of attentional bias:
statistics anxiety is unique among anxieties. PhD thesis,
James Cook University.

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An absence of attentional bias: Statistics anxiety is unique among anxieties

Thesis submitted by
Peter K. H. Chew BPsych (Hons Class I)
in January 2016

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the College of Healthcare Sciences
James Cook University (JCU)
Running head: STATISTICS ANXIETY 1

Acknowledgements
I wish to thank my supervisors, Denise Dillon and Anne Swinbourne for their
patience and support throughout my candidature. In particular, I am indebted to Denise for
encouraging me to do a Ph.D. and for recommending me to be the Research Pool Coordinator
in JCU Singapore. The former enabled me to pursue my love for research whereas the latter
permitted me to finance my studies in the absence of a scholarship. I am also grateful to
Anne for her no-nonsense attitude and positive disposition. Such qualities kept me sane in
the face of research ambiguity and nonsignificant results.
I am thankful for the help of many individuals during data collection. I wish to thank
statistics lecturers, Daniel Fassnacht, Patrick Lin, Nicola Lasikiewicz, and Bridget
McConnell for allowing me to advertise my project in their classes. I also wish to thank
Daniel Lindsay, Alison Sheaves, Cherie Sim Sze Min, and Danica Lim for assisting with data
collection.
I am also appreciative of the support of family and friends throughout my candidature.
Specifically, I am grateful for my parents’ unwavering support for my decision to pursue
graduate studies. They had minimal education. Yet, they recognized the value and importance
of education in improving social mobility. I am also thankful for my colleagues, Neesha
Shinde and Hafsah Begum. Given that I was the only psychology student pursuing a Ph.D.,
they served as an indispensable source of friendship and company. Lastly, I am beholden to
Angela Tan, my fiancée, for standing by me for the past seven years. This thesis is dedicated
to her.
STATISTICS ANXIETY 2

Statement of the Contribution of Others
This thesis was undertaken by the author under the supervision of Denise Dillon and
Anne Swinbourne. Both supervisors provided academic and editorial advice. The thesis also
benefited from the editorial advice of George Jacobs and Nimrod Delante (Learning Advisors
in JCU Singapore). Lastly, Daniel Lindsay and Alison Sheaves assisted with data collection
in JCU Australia while Cherie Sim Sze Min and Danica Lim assisted with data collection in
JCU Singapore.
The following chapters of the thesis were written as individual papers for publication.
Chapters 2 and 5 have already been published. Chew wrote the paper whereas Dillon and
Swinbourne provided academic and editorial advice.
Chapter Publication Status
1 Introduction to thesis; Not applicable for publication.
2 Chew, P. K. H., & Dillon, D. B. (2014). Statistics anxiety update: Refining the
construct and recommendations for a new research agenda. Perspectives on
Psychological Science, 9(2), 196–208. doi:10.1177/1745691613518077
3 Chew, P. K. H., Dillon, D. B., & Swinbourne, A. (Under Review). A study of the
Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) among psychology majors in
Singapore and Australia. Applied Psychological Measurement
4 Chew, P. K. H., & Dillon, D. B. (Under Review). Attentional Bias: A
Methodological Review. Education Sciences and Psychology
5 Chew, P. K. H., Swinbourne, A., & Dillon, D. B. (2014). No evidence of
attentional bias in statistics anxiety. The European Journal of Social &
Behavioural Sciences, 10(3), 1451–1465. doi:10.15405/ejsbs.131
6
Chew, P. K. H., Swinbourne, A., & Dillon, D. B. (Under Review). An absence of
7
attentional bias: Statistics anxiety is unique among anxieties. SAGE Open
8
STATISTICS ANXIETY 3

Declaration on Ethics
The research presented and reported in this thesis was conducted in accordance with
the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) National Statement on Ethical
Conduct in Human Research, 2007. The proposed research studies received human research
ethics approval from the JCU Human Research Ethics Committee Approval Number #H4761
and #H5008.
STATISTICS ANXIETY 4

Abstract
The first purpose of the project was to examine the internal consistency and structure of the
English version of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS). Participants were 202
(79% females) psychology undergraduates at James Cook University. Participants completed
the STARS, the Statistical Anxiety Scale, and the Attitudes toward Statistics scale.
Acceptable internal consistency reliabilities, ranging from .81 to .94, were found in this
sample. Approximate fit indices suggest that a correlated six first-order factor model best
describes the data in contrast to theoretical considerations suggesting that a six factor model
with two correlated superordinate factors (i.e., statistics anxiety and attitudes toward
statistics) best describes the data. The second purpose of the project was to examine the role
of attentional bias in statistics anxiety in three experiments. Participants were 94 (73%
females), 99 (68% females), and 104 (67% females) psychology undergraduates at James
Cook University, respectively. These participants had either never taken a statistics course
before but expected to enrol in one in the future, were currently enrolled in a statistics course,
or had successfully completed at least one statistics course but were not currently enrolled in
a statistics course. Participants completed the emotional Stroop task and the dot probe task,
the STARS, the Social Desirability Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. No
statistically significant differences were found across the experiments, indicating an absence
of attentional bias in statistics anxiety. Implications include a reconsideration of the
cognitive mechanisms underlying statistics anxiety. Specifically, individuals with statistics
anxiety might be interpreting danger based on the absence of safety indicators instead of the
presence of danger indicators. Alternatively, another form of cognitive bias, such as an
interpretation bias might underlie statistics anxiety. Future research should be conducted to
compare the plausibility of these two explanations.
STATISTICS ANXIETY 5

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Contribution of Others .................................................................................... 2
Declaration on Ethics ................................................................................................................. 3
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 5
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. 8
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 9
Typographic Conventions ........................................................................................................ 10
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11
Chapter 2: Statistics anxiety update: Refining the construct and recommendations for a new
research agenda ........................................................................................................................ 16
2.1 Refining the Statistics Anxiety Construct .......................................................................... 19
2.1.1 Distinguishing Statistics Anxiety from Related Variables ......................................... 19
2.1.1.1 Mathematics anxiety. ............................................................................................ 19
2.1.1.2 Attitude toward statistics. ..................................................................................... 21
2.1.2 Redefining Statistics Anxiety ..................................................................................... 23
2.1.3 Selecting Appropriate Measures of Statistics Anxiety ............................................... 24
2.2 Antecedents of Statistics Anxiety ...................................................................................... 26
2.2.1 Situational Antecedents of Statistics Anxiety ............................................................. 27
2.2.2 Dispositional Antecedents of Statistics Anxiety ......................................................... 28
2.2.3 Environmental Antecedents of Statistics Anxiety ...................................................... 29
2.2.4 Evaluation of Antecedents of Statistics Anxiety ........................................................ 30
2.3 Effects of Statistics Anxiety............................................................................................... 30
2.3.1 Evaluation of Effects of Statistics Anxiety ................................................................. 31
2.4 Interventions for Statistics Anxiety ................................................................................... 32
2.4.1 Evaluation of Interventions for Statistics Anxiety ...................................................... 33
2.5 Recommendations for Statistics Instructors....................................................................... 34
2.6 Recommendations for a New Research Agenda ................................................................ 36
2.7 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 38
Chapter 3: A study of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) among psychology
majors in Singapore and Australia ........................................................................................... 39
3.1 Method ............................................................................................................................... 44
3.1.1 Participants .................................................................................................................. 44
3.1.2 Instruments .................................................................................................................. 44
3.1.2.1 The Background Information Form. ..................................................................... 44
STATISTICS ANXIETY 6

3.1.2.2 The STARS........................................................................................................... 44
3.1.2.3 The Statistical Anxiety Scale. ............................................................................... 45
3.1.2.4 The Attitudes toward Statistics scale. ................................................................... 45
3.1.3 Procedure .................................................................................................................... 45
3.1.4 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 46
3.2 Results ................................................................................................................................ 48
3.2.1 Convergent and Divergent Validity ............................................................................ 50
3.3 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 51
Chapter 4: Attentional bias: A methodological review ............................................................ 57
4.1 Attentional Bias ................................................................................................................. 59
4.1.1 RT Tasks ..................................................................................................................... 61
4.1.1.1 The emotional Stroop task. ................................................................................... 61
4.1.1.2 The dot probe task. ............................................................................................... 62
4.1.1.3 Variants. ................................................................................................................ 64
4.1.2 Evidence for Attentional Bias ..................................................................................... 65
4.2 Methodological Limitations ............................................................................................... 66
4.2.1 Methods of Scoring RT Tasks .................................................................................... 67
4.2.2 Psychometric Properties of RT Tasks ......................................................................... 67
4.2.2.1 Reliability. ............................................................................................................ 68
4.2.2.2 Validity. ................................................................................................................ 69
4.2.3 Dichotomization of Continuous Variables .................................................................. 70
4.2.4 Handling RT Distributions .......................................................................................... 72
4.2.5 Using the Mean as Summary Statistic ........................................................................ 75
4.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 77
Chapter 5: An absence of attentional bias: Experiment 1 (Online) ......................................... 78
5.1 Method ............................................................................................................................... 79
5.1.1 Participants .................................................................................................................. 79
5.1.2 Stimuli Generation and Evaluation ............................................................................. 80
5.1.3 Tasks ........................................................................................................................... 81
5.1.3.1 The emotional Stroop task. ................................................................................... 81
5.1.3.2 The dot probe task. ............................................................................................... 81
5.1.4 Instruments .................................................................................................................. 82
5.1.4.1 The Background Information Form and the STARS............................................ 82
5.1.4.2 The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. ................................................. 82
5.1.5 Procedure .................................................................................................................... 83
5.2 Results ................................................................................................................................ 83
STATISTICS ANXIETY 7

5.3 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 85
Chapter 6: An absence of attentional bias: Experiment 2 (Laboratory) .................................. 88
6.1 Method ............................................................................................................................... 89
6.1.1 Participants .................................................................................................................. 89
6.1.2 Procedure .................................................................................................................... 90
6.2 Results ................................................................................................................................ 91
6.3 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 93
Chapter 7: An absence of attentional bias: Experiment 3 (Relevant Stimuli) ......................... 95
7.1 Method ............................................................................................................................... 96
7.1.1 Participants .................................................................................................................. 96
7.1.2 Stimuli ......................................................................................................................... 97
7.1.3 Tasks ........................................................................................................................... 97
7.1.4 Instruments .................................................................................................................. 98
7.1.4.1 The STAI .............................................................................................................. 98
7.1.5 Procedure .................................................................................................................... 98
7.2 Results ................................................................................................................................ 99
7.3 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 102
Chapter 8: General Discussion............................................................................................... 103
References .............................................................................................................................. 109
Appendix 1.1: Statistics Courses in Undergraduate Psychology Programs in Singapore and
Australia ................................................................................................................................. 138
Appendix 1.2: Statistics Courses in JCU ............................................................................... 140
Appendix 2.1: Overview of the Statistics Anxiety Literature (2003 to 2015) ....................... 143
Appendix 3.1: Background Information Form ...................................................................... 147
Appendix 3.2: Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS)..................................................... 148
Appendix 3.3: Statistical Anxiety Scale ................................................................................ 151
Appendix 3.4: Attitudes toward Statistics scale .................................................................... 153
Appendix 3.5: JCU’s Human Research Ethics Committee Approval Letter ......................... 155
Appendix 5.1: Stimuli Pairs for Experiments 1 and 2 ........................................................... 156
Appendix 5.2: Social Desirability Scale ................................................................................ 157
Appendix 5.3: JCU’s Human Research Ethics Committee Approval Letter ......................... 159
Appendix 5.4: Assumption Tests for Multiple Regression (Experiment 1) .......................... 160
Appendix 6.1: Assumption Tests for Multiple Regression (Experiment 2) .......................... 165
Appendix 7.1: Stimuli Pairs for Experiment 3....................................................................... 170
Appendix 7.2: Assumption Tests for Simple Linear Regression (Experiment 3) ................. 172
STATISTICS ANXIETY 8

List of Tables
Table 2.1. Correlations between the Subscales of the STARS and the SATS........................ 23
Table 2.2. Measures and Subscales of Statistics Anxiety (By Date of Publication) .............. 25
Table 3.1. Internal Consistency Reliability Coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) of the STARS
among Six Studies.................................................................................................................... 42
Table 3.2. Internal Consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha), Means, and Standard Deviations of the
STARS ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Table 3.3. Intercorrelations between Factors of the STARS .................................................. 49
Table 3.4. Average Mean Discrepancies and Fit Indices for Three Competing Models of the
STARS ..................................................................................................................................... 50
Table 3.5. Correlations Between the Six Factors of the STARS, STARS-Anxiety, STARS-
Negative Attitudes, STARS-Total Scale, SAS-Anxiety, and ATS-Positive attitudes ............. 55
Table 4.1. Literature Reviews and Meta-Analyses on Attentional Bias ................................. 59
Table 4.2. Number of Participants (Percentages) in Each Attentional Bias Category ........... 77
Table 5.1. Means and Standard Deviations of the STARS and the TBI ................................. 85
Table 5.2. Four Standard Multiple Regressions Predicting Each of the Four TBI ................. 85
Table 6.1. Means (Standard Deviations) of the STARS and the TBI for each Group ............ 92
Table 6.2. Means and Standard Deviations of the STARS and the TBI (Collapsed Across
Groups) .................................................................................................................................... 92
Table 6.3. Four Standard Multiple Regressions Predicting Each of the Four TBI ................. 93
Table 7.1. Descriptive Statistics of Incorrect Responses for each Stimulus Type ................. 99
Table 7.2. Means (Standard Deviations) of the STARS and the TBI for each Group .......... 100
Table 7.3. Means and Standard Deviations of the STARS and the TBI (Collapsed Across
Groups) .................................................................................................................................. 101
Table 7.4. Six Simple Regression Outcomes with the Three Factors of Statistics Anxiety as
Predictors and the Six TBI as Criteria ................................................................................... 101