$ cat u.pl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;

my $hashRef = {amountSubmitted=>1};
print "a hash reference: ", Dumper($hashRef), "\n";

my %hash = (amountSubmitted=>0);
print "a hash expands to a list: ", Dumper(%hash), "\n";

print "pass the hash as a ref: ", Dumper(\%hash), "\n";

##</code><code>##

$ perl u.pl
a hash reference: $VAR1 = {
          'amountSubmitted' => 1
        };

a hash expands to a list: $VAR1 = 'amountSubmitted';
$VAR2 = 0;

pass the hash as a ref: $VAR1 = {
          'amountSubmitted' => 0
        };

##</code><code>##

$ perl u.pl
array reference: $VAR1 = [
          'first value',
          'second value'
        ];

array: $VAR1 = 'first value';
$VAR2 = 'second value';

array as ref: $VAR1 = [
          'first value',
          'second value'
        ];