Probabilistic cognition in two indigenous Mayan groups

Laura Fontanari , Michel Gonzalez (1) , Giorgio Vallortigara , Vittorio Girotto (1)

1 LPC - Laboratoire de psychologie cognitive

Is there a sense of chance shared by all individuals, regardless of their schooling or culture? To test whether the ability to make correct probabilistic evaluations depends on educational and cultural guidance, we investigated probabilistic cognition in preliterate and prenumerate Kaqchikel and K'iche', two indigenous Mayan groups, living in remote areas of Guatemala. Although the tested individuals had no formal education, they performed correctly in tasks in which they had to consider prior and posterior information, proportions and combinations of possibilities. Their performance was indistinguishable from that of Mayan school children and Western controls. Our results provide evidence for the universal nature of probabilistic cognition.

Domaines: Psychologie

Laura Fontanari, Michel Gonzalez, Giorgio Vallortigara, Vittorio Girotto. Probabilistic cognition in two indigenous Mayan groups. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014, 111 (48), pp.17075-17080. ⟨10.1073/pnas.1410583111⟩. ⟨hal-01432466⟩