Statistics as a second language? A model for predicting performance in psychology students.

The purpose of this study wns to test a model for predicting the performance of psychology students in statistics. Previous research in this area examined statistical performance in relation to three classes of variables: anxiety, atti-tudes, and ability. These variables are the essential components of an educa-tional model developed by Gardner within the context of second language learning. It is argued that learning statistics is analogous to learning a second language, and that Gardner's model provides an integrative framework for understanding and predicting statistical performance. Measures assessing mathematical aptitude, math anxiety, and attitudinal and motivational vari-ables were administered to volunteers from two introductory statistics courses in a psychology program. A causal model linking these variables was pro-posed and tested using a I.ISRKI. analysis. The results, which generally sup-ported the model, are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.