Visual perception of summary statistics not following mathematical rules

(National Research University Higher School of Economics) Cognitive psychologists of the Higher School of Economics have experimentally demonstrated that people are capable of estimating the mean size of visible objects and their approximate number simultaneously, showing for the first time that these two cognitive processes are independent of each other and do not follow the rules of mathematical statistics. The results of this experiment, published in PLOS One, can inform new approaches to statistical data visualisation and statistical education.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news