ERIC Number: EJ1379966
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-May
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: EISSN-1939-0599
Developmental Trajectories of Numerical Magnitude Representations of Fractions and Decimals
Wang, Yunqi; Siegler, Robert S.
Developmental Psychology, v59 n5 p874-885 May 2023
We examined the development of numerical magnitude representations of fractions and decimals from fourth to 12th grade. In Experiment 1, we assessed the rational number magnitude knowledge of 200 Chinese fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and 12th graders (92 girls and 108 boys) by presenting fraction and decimal magnitude comparison tasks as well as fraction and decimal 0-1 and 0-5 number line estimation tasks. Magnitude representations of decimals became accurate earlier, improved more rapidly, and reached a higher asymptotic accuracy than magnitude representations of fractions. Analyses of individual differences revealed positive relations between the accuracy of decimal and fraction magnitude representations at all ages. In Experiment 2, we presented an additional set of 24 fourth graders (14 girls and 10 boys) with the same tasks but with the decimals that were being compared varying in the number of decimal digits. The decimal advantage continued to be present for both magnitude comparison and estimation tasks, indicating that the greater accuracy with decimals was not limited to decimals with equal numbers of decimal digits, though unequal numbers of decimal digits did impact performance with decimals on both magnitude comparison and number line estimation tasks. Implications for understanding numerical development and education are discussed.
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Secondary School Students, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 8, Grade 12, Fractions, Arithmetic, Knowledge Level, Mathematics Skills, Accuracy, Age Differences, Foreign Countries, Numbers, Individual Differences
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Grade 5; Middle Schools; Grade 6; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Grade 12; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/k5n39/