Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32328015›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020

Widening Access to Bayesian Problem Solving.

Nicole Cruz, Saoirse Connor Desai, Stephen Dewitt, Ulrike Hahn, David Lagnado, Alice Liefgreen, Kirsty Phillips, Toby Pilditch, Marko Tešić

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A Bayesian network approach to evaluating footwear evidence.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. BARD: A Structured Technique for Group Elicitation of Bayesian Networks to Support Analytic Reasoning.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2022
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Nicole CruzDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Saoirse Connor DesaiDepartment of Psychology, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Stephen DewittDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Ulrike HahnDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
David LagnadoDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Alice LiefgreenDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Kirsty PhillipsDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Toby PilditchDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Marko TešićDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bayesian reasoning and decision making is widely considered normative because it minimizes prediction error in a coherent way. However, it is often difficult to apply Bayesian principles to complex real world problems, which typically have many unknowns and interconnected variables. Bayesian network modeling techniques make it possible to model such problems and obtain precise predictions about the causal impact that changing the value of one variable may have on the values of other variables connected to it. But Bayesian modeling is itself complex, and has until now remained largely inaccessible to lay people. In a large scale lab experiment, we provide proof of principle that a Bayesian network modeling tool, adapted to provide basic training and guidance on the modeling process to beginners without requiring knowledge of the mathematical machinery working behind the scenes, significantly helps lay people find normative Bayesian solutions to complex problems, compared to generic training on probabilistic reasoning. We discuss the implications of this finding for the use of Bayesian network software tools in applied contexts such as security, medical, forensic, economic or environmental decision making.

Indexed as

assistive software technologyBayesian networksdecision makingprobabilisticreasoning

Identifiers

PMID32328015
PMCPMC7160335

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.