Quantifying risk: verbal probability expressions in Spanish and English.

摘要

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how Spanish- and English-speaking adults interpret verbal probability expressions presented in Spanish and English (eg, posiblemente and possibly, respectively). METHOD: Professional translators and university students from Mexico and the United States read a series of likelihood statements in Spanish or English and then estimated the certainty implied by each statement. RESULTS: Several terms that are regarded as cognates in English and Spanish elicited significantly different likelihood ratings. Several language equivalencies were also identified. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide the first reported evaluation of Spanish likelihood terms for use in risk communications directed towards monolingual and bilingual Spanish speakers.