The mental representation of numerical fractions:: Real or integer?
The mental representation of numerical fractions:: Real or integer?
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DOI：
10.1037/0096-1523.33.6.1410
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发表时间：
2007-12-01
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Zorzi, Marco
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bonato, Mario;Fabbri, Sara;Zorzi, Marco
数字分数通常用于表示比率和比例（即，真实的数字），但对熟练的成年人如何在心理上表示和处理它们知之甚少。四个实验采用比较任务，探讨分数的距离效应和反应代码的空间数字关联（SNARC）的效果。结果表明，分数的处理是分量式的，不能得到分数的真实的数值，说明分数的大小处理不是自动的。与此相反，响应受组件的数值大小的影响，并反映了分子之间的简单比较，重复和参考，这取决于所采取的策略。即使是高度熟练的参与者也会使用策略，并灵活地适应特定的实验环境。与儿童整体数字偏差的结果一致，这些发现表明，分数的理解植根于表示离散数字的能力（即，整数）而不是真实的数字，并且熟练的成年人通过灵活使用基于整数分量的策略来规避儿童在掌握分数方面的众所周知的困难。
Numerical fractions are commonly used to express ratios and proportions (i.e., real numbers), but little is known about how they are mentally represented and processed by skilled adults. Four experiments employed comparison tasks to investigate the distance effect and the effect of the spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC) for fractions. Results showed that fractions were processed componentially and that the real numerical value of the fraction was not accessed, indicating that processing the fraction's magnitude is not automatic. In contrast, responses were influenced by the numerical magnitude of the components and reflected the simple comparison between numerators, denominators, and reference, depending on the strategy adopted. Strategies were used even by highly skilled participants and were flexibly adapted to the specific experimental context. In line with results on the whole number bias in children, these findings suggest that the understanding of fractions is rooted in the ability to represent discrete numerosities (i.e., integers) rather than real numbers and that the well-known difficulties of children in mastering fractions are circumvented by skilled adults through a flexible use of strategies based on the integer components.