Quantifying risk: verbal probability expressions in Spanish and English.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how Spanish- and English-speaking adults interpret verbal probability expressions presented in Spanish and English (eg, posiblemente and possibly, respectively).


METHODS
Professional translators and university students from México 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.
Cohn
Lawrence D
LD
Department of Psychology, University of Texas, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. Lcohn@utep.edu
Vázquez
Miguel E Cortés
ME
Alvarez
Adolfo
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D013781:Texas; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult