Research interests
Quantitative health information is everywhere on the mass media and the Internet. Much of this information is in quantitative form, such as probabilities and percentages. Understanding numerical information is a necessary ability for everyone living in today's information-rich society. My research interests cover the investigation of the comprehension and use of numerical health information, especially in the adult immigrant population. I am interested in answering the following questions: What are the component processes involved in health numeracy? What are the skills necessary for understanding health information among the immigrant populations in Canada? How do different forms of numerical representation affect such understanding? What is the relation between culture, language, and education with health numeracy? Understanding these issues is necessary for developing health promotion strategies aimed specifically at the various cultural minorities in the country.
Supervised graduate students with research interests related to:
- Comprehension of health information
- Health numeracy
- Reasoning in the health domains
- Consumer health informatics
- Health decision making
Teaching interests
- Health informatics
- Decision-making
- Cognitive science
- Human computer interaction
Courses
- Decision making in health
- Health literacy and numeracy
- Public health informatics
Education
Lic. Psychology, Caracas Central University
MA Educational Psychology, McGill University
PhD Educational Psychology, McGill University
Selected publications
See Google Scholar for full list of publications.