Chinese and English speakers' linguistic expression of probability and probabilistic thinking

Previous research found that when bilingual Chinese speakers responded to a View of Uncertainty Questionnaire (VUQ) in English, they exhibited greater nonprobabilistic thinking than did native English speakers. This study com pares English and Chinese speakers' responses to a VUQ in their native lang uages. Their responses to a Probability Scale Task (PST), in which responde nts labeled a numerical scale in their own language, also were compared. On the VUQ, results from several measures suggested that the Chinese speakers showed more nonprobabilistic thinking than did the English speakers. Simil arly, in the PST, they used a lesser variety of probability phrases and use d them less precisely than did the English speakers. It is argued that thes e results advance understanding of the relation between probabilistic think ing and the use of probability language.